La Isla Bonita
by I am Thalia daughter of Zeus
Summary: AU: In which Hylla decides that Reyna needs to know more about their pasts in Puerto Rico, and takes the oppotunity to also be at their father's wedding, using the excuse to spend three weeks catching up with old friends and making new ones. (That's all I can say without completely spoiling the entire thing. Sorry.) T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Honestly, there are many other things that I could be writing at this moment, IWEMA is one of those things, but alas, one of my many plot bunnies bit me ten months ago, this specific little bunny to be precise. I'm aware that this may not be my best work, but it's a keep due to the unrelenting hold it has on my brain, it's even multiplying. (You won't ever see that stuff, mostly because I can't write it.) **

**Allow me to walk you through a story, last december, coming close to Christmas time, a young writer lay in her bed at night, trying to sleep when a little bunny hopped over, the bunny promised such joy and happiness for her favourite character, if she just surrendered and wrote a nice little story set after Heroes of Olympus. The writer agreed, but since she was living with her dad, there was limited time on the computer, she made a deal that if the plot bunny stayed until she returned to her mother, she'd write the story. Ten months later, I'm regretting my decision.**

**Word count: 2,022.**

**As always, I don't own Percy Jackson or any characters affilliated with the series, I merely write fanfiction and am not paid for it, all that you recognise belongs to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

_December 26th_

Reyna's Point of View:

"It's perfectly healthy to take a break every now and again, Reyna." Hylla lectured as she paced the length of the Principia, as she had done since she'd arrived fifteen minutes ago.

"'_It's perfectly healthy to take a break every now and again_'." I mimicked, Hylla paused to glare at me. "Hylla, I '_take a break_' from praetor work every day, how _do _you think I'm still alive. I eat, sleep and shower like everybody else." I reminded her, my sister did not relent her glare.

"Don't take that tone with me, you know what I mean. You need a vacation, a couple of weeks where you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and babysit two-hundred teenagers." She retorted, I sighed and rolled my eyes, Hylla resumed her pacing.

"I am not '_babysitting teenagers_' as you know perfectly well, I am a praetor, I cannot just shirk my duties and go off gallivanting to wherever you are proposing we travel to, these things need to be planned down to the finest detail." I insisted, it was Hylla's turn to roll her eyes at me.

"I have it planned, that _boy_ will take care of this encampment while you and I take a little vacation, we'll be gone three weeks, tops." Hylla shrugged, I picked up a folder from the desk and pushed it into a draw, it was the complaint folder against Octavian, mostly notices about missing stuffed animals.

"I fail to see why you are so desperate for me to join you on some trip." Hylla clasped her hands behind her back as she continued pacing. "But, never-the-less, I shall hold a Senate meeting after lunch to alert them to my upcoming absence." I reached into a different drawer, pulling out a sheet of parchment and began drawing up an official summons. "Please take this to Jason, he is in the Circus Maximus now, I shall meet you in mother's temple after I have concerted with him." I tied a purple ribbon around the scroll and handed it to Hylla.

"Take your time, you need not hurry." Hylla said, with a last glance at the second praetor chair she swept out of the room, the door closing behind her. I petted Aurum's head as I began a quota of requirements Jason had to fill each day, without fail, the duties he would have to do in my place. Finally the door opened.

"Praetor Reyna, you summoned me?" Jason questioned as he stepped inside the door, it swung shut again, allowing us privacy. An awkward silence clung to the oxygen in the room, it had no business being there, and I quickly diminished it.

"Yes, I will taking a short leave of absence within the next few days, I need you to be ready to take care of Camp Jupiter from both praetor positions for three weeks." I answered, Jason stood still, his blue eyes stared at me in surprise.

"You're leaving?" Jason asked, I nodded, Argentum nuzzled my leg for a brief second before trotting over to the door.

"Hylla has proposed that I travel with her for a few weeks." I cocked my head to the side as I rose from my throne. "I shan't be long, three weeks is hardly anything, I'll be back before you know it." I offered to reassure Jason, for what reason I didn't know.

"Where are you planning to go?" Jason asked as I walked towards the door, Aurum on my heels, Jason held the door open for us and I gave a curt nod in thanks.

"I have absolutely no idea, my sister is fond of keeping secrets from me." I said, I tasted something bitter on my tongue, I found it unfair Hylla never talked about our father, anything about our mortal side, I only knew a few things. Jason wisely semi-changed the topic.

"Shall I alert the hotel that your sister is staying now, or later?" Jason offered, we left the gates of Camp Jupiter and began strolling down the path towards New Rome, and Temple Hill.

"Not immediately, we do not know how long she is staying for." I reminded Jason, he nodded, the rest of the walk was spent in silence until we reached the fork in the road. "I promised to meet Hylla at our mother's temple." I explained, Jason glanced at New Rome, then at the visible temples on the hill.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you? The first cohort was finishing in the Coliseum when you summoned me." I nodded and started on the right path to Temple Hill, Argentum and Aurum darted ahead, racing to the bridge as Jason and I took our time. "What's going to happen with Argentum and Aurum, are they going with you?" Jason asked as we crossed the bridge, both dogs pricked up their ears at their names and ran circles around us before bounding ahead.

"No, I believe the best place for them to be is here, they are good companions but I know they are better suited to help you with managing Camp Jupiter for now. It's a two person job, and working alone gets depressing." I admitted, Jason said nothing, but there was the proverbial elephant surrounding us.

"Understood." Jason replied curtly, we reached the temple of Bellona and found Hylla kneeling in front of her statue, she touched her forehead, then below both of her shoulders before she rose and turned to us.

"Perfect timing sister, I finished paying my respects to mother." Hylla said, I nodded and nodded towards the alabaster statue.

"I'm glad, and I'm sure mother is pleased. I'd like to talk about this trip, when will we be leaving?" I asked, Hylla leaned against the entranceway.

"I was planning to leave tonight." Hylla suggested, Jason and I shared a slightly alarmed look. "Is that a problem?" Hylla questioned innocently, Jason glanced at the field of Mars and I copied him for a brief second.

"Absolutely not." I declared, Jason quirked an eyebrow at me. "The war games shall go forth as planned, I'm assuming you plan for us to leave immediately following dinner." Hylla nodded and I turned back to Jason. "The first, third and fifth cohorts are attacking, leaving the second and fourth defend." I reminded him, he nodded with a slight grimace.

"The first cohort is not going to be happy." He muttered, I slapped his arm, sending a reproachful glare.

"They may not like it, but they will do it. Keep a wary eye out for any sabotage attempts, I wouldn't put it past anyone." I warned, Jason nodded diligently.

"Shall we go to your villa? Packing has to be done." Hylla spoke up, I nodded and she slipped her arm through my own.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we began the walk back to Camp Jupiter, Hylla tutted.

"If I told you that, it would ruin the surprise. But I suppose I could give you a few guesses, to be lenient." Hylla smiled, I thought about all the places I had told Hylla I'd wanted to visit.

"You're taking me to _Disneyland_?" I asked, my nose scrunched up of its own accord, I hadn't wanted to go there since I was thirteen years old, the idea lost it's luster when I found out there was a pirate ship, after my experience with them, I wanted nothing to do with any sort of ship.

"No, we're not going to _Disneyland_." Hylla said firmly, I understood her reasoning as Jason chuckled at my guess. We were back at Camp Jupiter before I knew it.

"I'll meet you at the villas, I'm hungry, do either of you want something?" Jason offered, Hylla declined his offer politely.

"A bagel would be lovely, thank you Jason." I answered, Jason stopped by the coffee merchant while Hylla and I continued onwards, when sufficient distance had been put between us and Jason I slipped my arm out from my sister's.

"What?" Hylla asked defensively, I glanced at her.

"You're being very covert, Hylla, out with it." I instructed, Hylla glanced around but the nearest people were a few legionnaires who had barely gave us a second glance except to nod respectfully, they then returned to their card game.

"Not here, and not now. Later, I promise." Hylla hissed, I folded my arms but lead the way to my villa, Hylla rarely stayed long at Camp Jupiter, and when she did she stayed in New Rome, she usually found me in the Principia. When we reached the villa I quickly opened it and we slipped inside.

"My backpack is under my bed." I called to Hylla who was already halfway to my room without asking, I sat down on the sofa and sighed, the door opened and Jason let himself in, the soft smell of hot pastries and hot chocolate followed him in.

"Ah good, you've arrived, I'll need your help." Hylla said from her spot by the door to my room, I looked at her warily, what was she planning. "Are you two going to look like that all day. Reyna, it's unbecoming of a lady." Hylla motioned for us to follow as she disappeared into my room, with a wry smile, I followed her.

"What kind of clothes do I need to pack for this trip?" I asked, Hylla was rummaging through my wardrobe, she pulled out my spare Camp Jupiter t-shirts, throwing them haphazardly towards me.

"Is the only thing you own Camp t-shirts, jeans and a few shorts?" Hylla asked scandalised, I folded my arms, raising an eyebrow at her. "I suppose they'll do for a short while." Hylla mumbled to herself more than us, she looked back and frowned at me. "Aren't you going to fold those, you don't want them to wrinkle." Jason snickered and helped me fold the purple t-shirts, I began placing them in the bag as Hylla began folding the denim shorts.

"It's nearly lunch." Jason spoke up, I glanced at the clock to find Jason was right, my eyes then travelled to the empty styrofoam cups and bagel crumbs.

"We finished with good timing then, I'd honestly expected we'd be longer." Hylla remarked nonchalantly, she strode out of the room purposely, leaving Jason and I standing there like fools for a moment, then she called back; "Are you coming or not?"

* * *

"I shall return in three weeks." I promised Jason, we stood on the bridge nearest to the Caldecott Tunnel, I hitched my bag further up my shoulder as extended my hand towards him. "Take care of yourself." I instructed softly, the gods know I learned how to balance it.

"You too." Jason replied, he shook my hand.

"I took the liberty in drawing up a schedule for you, it would help you a great deal with the daily task of running Camp Jupiter. It's in the Principia." I added for his benefit, Jason nodded, his gaze never wavered. "Well, I suppose that is all I have to say." I sighed and removed my hand from Jason's grasp, it fell to my side, I turned and began walking to Hylla. Without warning Jason's arms wrapped around me tightly, as if he didn't want me to go.

"_See you in three weeks_, I'll miss you." Jason whispered in my ear, his breath ghosted over my cheek and I almost smiled.

"I shall be counting the days until we meet again." I replied softly, Jason relented his hold on me and I stepped forward. I turned briefly to see Jason standing where I had been, before turning forwards and walking to Hylla, who stood waiting at the mouth of the tunnel.

"What was that?" She asked as we began our small trek through the mural-decorated hall.

"Oh, it was nothing." I replied quietly, I wasn't sure what it was myself.

"Sure it was, it didn't seem like nothing." Hylla said, the walk continued in silence, both of us lost in our thoughts.

* * *

**I feel slightly less crazy already, I apologise if anyone was out of character, but the fact is I wrote this chapter MONTHS ago, I'm pretty sure it was before my birthday and that was four months ago, I've proofread and revised all of the fist five chapters multiple times now, and while I'm not completely happy with them, I'll live, I don't hate myself yet. (Well, chapter 6 kind of made me, but that was my guilty conscious.) ****I hope you guys liked the first chapter, I'll be updating every Saturday with a new chapter, and this I SWEAR will happen, pinky swear, and I can't break that. Since I have the first ten chapters written, there is a high chance that I have plenty of time to keep up with writing the story.**

**Peace, Love, Adios amigos.**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	2. Chapter 2

**As promised, one week later, a new chapter. That has also been sitting passively in my folder, unfortunately, I have not made much progress with my 11th chapter, due to unforseen circumstances that I had never anticipated, which led me to spend a lot of time since tuesday playing Solitaire on my laptop and listening to music. Depression sucks on it's own, mix it with a little grief, and everything sucks.**

**I wouldn't be updating if I didn't already have this chapter, and the rest up until ten ready for you, so please enjoy the sister dynamic in this, and I'll try to have more, and there is an idea for chapter 11, because at the moment, I can't remember most of what I've done in the other chapters, except for bringing some romance into someone's love life.**

**Word count: 1820-something, I forgot to document it before I put in the authors notes, word count tool tells me 1820.**

**As always, I don't own Percy Jackson, never plan to in fact. There.**

* * *

_December 26th_

Reyna's Point of View:

"Are you ever going to be honest about what's going on between you and Grace?" Hylla asked as she threw another dress over the changing room door, I pulled it over and examined the sapphire fabric against my body.

"There's nothing to tell, Hylla. We're merely friends." I insisted, I placed the dress back on the top of the door. "I am not wearing anything that short." I added, the dress disappeared without a word. "But I do like that colour." I noted for future reference, not that there ever would be future reference.

"Your dogs may be with him, but that doesn't mean you can lie to me." Hylla answered back, another dress, black this time, was thrown over the door and I took it, scrutinising the length of the dress.

"I'm not lying, we really are just friends." I replied, I placed the black dress back on the door where Hylla added it to the pile of rejects.

"Don't think that rejecting every dress I hand to you is going to get you out of buying dresses. We are not leaving this mall until you have at least three." Hylla spoke from the other side of the door, I let out a sigh and looked at my reflection, I hadn't even tried on a single dress that Hylla had given me.

"I haven't even tried on that many." I insisted, Hylla scoffed.

"You've looked at thirty-three different dresses, you haven't tried any on." She shot back.

"You're _counting_?"

"You're _not_?"

"Touche." I finalised that, Hylla passed over another red dress, I held it against my body and cocked my head, it looked like it would fit my form well. "I like this one." I decided, I could hear Hylla's relieved sigh and the assistant helping us chuckle lightly, I made to pass it over but Hylla didn't take it.

"Try it on." She ordered, I groaned but complied with her wishes, my assumptions were correct, the dress fitted my form, clinging better in some places than others.

"It fits." I called out to my sister, I could almost feel her satisfactory smile, I quickly slipped back into my other clothes before she could ask me to show her, I slid the lock back from the door and stepped back into the main part of the store.

"Well, I suppose one dress will do for now, we can always get more." Hylla's sigh was exaggerated as she took the dress from my hands, I attempted to smile at the assistant as she wheeled the rack with the thirty-three dresses I hadn't tried on away for dry-cleaning. I glanced at the numerous bags we'd collected with barely disguised contempt, I despised shopping for pleasure, it reminded me too much of the days spent wasting time fretting over trivial things on C.C.'s island.

"Lets get out of here, Hylla." I said when she returned with the dress in another bag, we picked up our collection of bags and made our way to the food court.

"The car should be returning soon, then we must go to sleep. We have an early morning ahead of us tomorrow." Hylla informed me, she held a PDA in her hand, she was scrolling through her to-do list that seemed to contain the details of our excursion. I sipped the milkshake she'd purchased with my food leisurely as I waited for her to elaborate.

"Who paid for all this shopping, unless there's something you're not telling me." I mused, I watched carefully as Hylla's spine stiffened indignantly at the implication that she was keeping something from me.

"You'll meet our benefactor soon enough." She replied, I picked up a french fry and dipped it in sauce before biting into it. "Have you kissed Grace yet?" Hylla asked abruptly, I choked on the fry and stared at her in unabashed surprise. I began coughing to dislodge the fry and heaved a sigh of relief when I'd swallowed it properly.

"Don't spring that on me like that!" I exclaimed, Hylla tutted and picked at her own food.

"You didn't answer my question." She noted, I crossed my arms sullenly.

"I don't have to, it is none of your business." I stated clearly, Hylla didn't reply but merely raised an eyebrow at me, I didn't cave. "It doesn't matter if I did or not, Jason hasn't regained all of his memories, he doesn't remember anything more than us being colleges." I answered, my evasive tactics were getting better.

"He still hasn't all his memories, it's been... what, a year now since he woke on that bus?" Hylla deduced, I shrugged and tore apart my chicken nuggets, Hylla noticed and clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "You'll ruin your body by eating things like that." I ate a piece of chicken to taunt her.

"My body is in peak physical condition, I don't see why I can't have treats every once in a while." I proclaimed stubbornly, Hylla rolled her eyes.

"Indulging is bad for your health." She added, I rolled my eyes mockingly and unwrapped my free toy from its packinging.

"This isn't indulgence, this is a treat, indulgence would be the Big Mac, large fries, Chicken Nuggets and Large Milkshake I ordered, not a _Happy Meal_." I corrected, my sister rolled her eyes and I smiled at her warmly.

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you've said about you and Grace." Hylla spoke before I could count myself two victories on the changed subject.

"Keep trying, it would be for the best." Hylla placed her hand over mine in a gesture of comfort, I looked at the numerous shopping bags in a bid to look away from her pitying eyes. "You said the car should be back for us soon." I reminded her, I was eager to return to the hotel room Hylla had rented for us, I just wanted to go to sleep and forget the last 14 months.

"Finish your food and we'll go." Hylla answered, I looked at my sister.

"I thought you said that it would rot my body." I fired back, Hylla scowled at me.

"I'd forgotten how improbable you could be."

* * *

**Full Name:** Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano

**Born: **June 3rd

**Parents: **Luca Ramirez-Arellano, Bella Onyx.

"Why did you give this to me?" I asked Hylla as I read over the information again, drinking it in eagerly, I really shouldn't have questioned the information, it was information about our past, our mortal side.

"I thought you wanted to know who our benefactor was." Hylla replied, I nodded, I couldn't believe the news I held in my hands. "Dad sent me some cash a while back, and has kept up a stipend once a month." Hylla informed me, I looked at her curiously.

"How long have you been in contact?" Hylla sighed wearily, she'd probably guessed that I would ask this question eventually.

"I've been writing letters to him for just under a year and a half, I started writing to him after you told me that you were going to attack the base of the Titans. I had plans to take you last year, in October, but then Grace went missing, you needed to look after your camp. We've both made our choices, you respect mine, I have to respect yours." Hylla explained, she kneeled in front of me and took both of my hands.

"So, we're going to see dad?" I asked, Hylla hesitated but nodded confidently. "Tell me what you know about him." I ordered softly, Hylla took the certificate from me and set it aside.

"He's engaged, to a woman named Elisa Shelling. She has two sons of her own, Max and Shaun, and she's expecting another child, the baby is due in March, the wedding is in two weeks." Hylla answered, I frowned at the news, I had to meet these new people who had probably heard so much about me, but I knew hardly anything about them.

"Do they know we're coming?" I asked, Hylla's smile was becoming contagious.

"Yes, it's been planned down to the last detail. They'll be meeting us at the airport tomorrow afternoon in San Juan, everyone's excited, they can't wait to meet us." Hylla said, my smile lessened a fraction.

"You haven't met them yet?" I asked, Hylla shook her head.

"I left with you, I'm returning with you." Hylla promised, she reached into the suitcase she had packed before giving me the name of our father, she withdrew a photo frame and handed it to me. Inside the photo was three people, a man in a wheelchair holding a dark-haired girl on his lap, Hylla stood next to them in front of a cake with candles merrily burning away, they all wore party hats and bright smiles.

"You're thirteenth birthday?" I guessed, Hylla nodded, she looked like I had when I was that age.

"The last the picture we had as a family, taken by Aunt Maria, a week later I said I was taking you to school, except neither of us arrived at our schools." Hylla said, I handed the photograph back to her and she stared at it, lost in her memories.

"Why don't I remember this, I had to be around four or five, yet I remember nothing of our father." Hylla's smile faltered as she repacked the photograph. I looked at her expectedly.

"Before you act rashly, please understand I did what I did for you. You had these horrible nightmares, you would wake up screaming every night. You blamed yourself for what happened, we both blamed ourselves, when nobody was at fault. You were so young, burdening yourself with the blame, I couldn't let you go through with that being one of the things you remembered of dad-"

"You had C.C. erase my memories of dad." I guessed, Hylla nodded, relieved the truth was finally out. "Will I ever get those memories back?" I asked, Hylla pursed her lips but nodded.

"I'll give you them back in a few days, tomorrow is a new day and now is not the right time to exorcise old demons. You finished packing?" Hylla asked as I placed the certificate on top of my folded clothes and closed the suitcase.

"Yeah, all packed." I confirmed, Hylla closed her own suitcase and checked the time.

"I guess it's time to sleep, we've got an early morning ahead of us." I stood up and stretched before climbing into my hotel bed, Hylla slipped into her own and switched off the lamp between us. "Goodnight, Reyna."

"Goodnight, Hylla." I replied, after a few seconds I blinked. "Which team do you think won the war games?" One of Hylla's pillows hit my face and bounced to the floor.

"You're on vacation, Reyna, go to sleep." Hylla reprimanded, I turned over and closed my eyes, falling into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**Anyone who has read House of Hades with recognise Reyna's full name, as it was presented, and really, that is all I have changed about this chapter, I think. At this current moment in time, I am planning to get some rest before I clean my room later, and I leave you all to think about what you have read.**

**As a general warning, you can't introduce a family that has never been given, so there's a lot of people you're going to meet next week, Luca, Elisa, Max and Shaun. Also, a few people from Hylla's past, so look out for those guys, because we're about to have a whole lot of fun, I expecially had fun writing everyone. XD**

**Peace, Love, Keep on loving guys.**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another week, another chapter and I am not any closer to completing chapter 11, why do imaginary people have to be so difficult to deal with, it should not be hard to write a chapter when I know parts of what is going to happen. I also keep getting distracted by cute, adorable, REALLY FRUSTRATING plot bunnies who do not know their places. I know, I know. Excuses, excuses. I toyed with the idea of being completely evil and not updating until tomorrow, because my sister is staying over tonight, but as the chapter is already written, I have proofread it as much as I can and all that. I might as well post it, plus, I promised every Saturday/**

**I've always toyed with the idea that Hylla and Reyna come from a well-off family, maybe that's part of why they act like they do, and the idea just sticks with me, so I'd like to introduce you to their welcoming family, and some _friends_ of Hylla's. I'll say more on this in the end note.**

**I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympions, any of the characters involved, I only can claim Luca, Elisa, Max, Shaun, Esteban and Antonia. (Antonia will actually feature in a later chapter.)**

**Without further ado, the chapter. Word count: 2,029**

* * *

_December 27th_

Luca's Point of View:

"Luca, sit down, the pacing is making me dizzy." Elisa murmured softly as I walked from one end of the row to the other, anxiously watching the door through which my daughters would soon be arriving, their plane had touched down exactly four minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago, and I was nervous about meeting them. The last time I had seen Bella was the day thirteen-year-old Hylla had taken Reyna and ran away, she'd tried to stop them with her father but with no avail, but gave her blessing for safe passage.

"Pacing won't make them come through any faster." Max added, the blonde man leaned back in his chair and continued his conversation with Esteban, who he'd brought along. I glanced at the sliding doors again before resuming my pacing. Before she'd left after Reyna's birth, Bella had assured me that the way I'd raise the girls would give them what they needed to get ahead in life, that they would do wonderfully. Now the time had come to see what my daughters had become.

"Now, _who_ is **she**?" Esteban piped up, I glanced at the sliding doors again to see the two young women enter the airport, anxious smiles adorned their faces, the younger girl played with her braid as she took in her new surroundings, while the older girl was straight to the point and began looking for a specific someone. I smiled at her instantly.

"If I find you deliberately hurt Hylla, Esteban, you will not like the consequences." I promised with a smile, I strode forward and quickly embraced my older daughter in a tight hug.

"Papa, it's good to see you." Hylla said as she wrapped her own arms around me, Reyna offered a quirky smile that I remembered from when she was four, her hand darting forward to shake my own.

"So much better than writing letters, but I understand demigods and technology." I replied, I stood back and appraised my older daughter, her hair was shorter than I'd last seen it, falling to her mid-back, pushed back by a headband. Black jeans and a white blouse covered by a black waistcoat told me that she'd been doing as well as her letters promised, and even better as she gave a small twirl in her high heels.

"It's mostly phone calls, but as long as their brief, I could call you." Hylla stated, she wrapped her arm around Reyna protectively before presenting her. "Daddy, I'm sure you remember Reyna, hasn't she grown." Reyna blushed before I pulled her into a tight hug.

"The last time I'd seen you, I could lift you onto my shoulders and carry you around." I whispered into her black hair, Reyna gave a nervous laugh but hugged me back. "I don't think I could do it now though, but it's great to see you, princess." Reyna buried her face into my shirt and held on tighter, I waved my arm for Hylla to join in and she complied willingly.

"I'd forgotten how good this felt." Hylla breathed, I grinned and held both of them closer, my family was complete again.

"I know what you mean." I agreed, Reyna nodded as well, mumbling something that my shirt muffled. "Would you two like to meet Elisa?" I offered, Hylla looked up and over my shoulder before ducking into my embrace as well.

"You didn't mention that you'd adopted. I wasn't expecting three brothers." Hylla mumbled, Reyna shifted until she was tucked into Hylla as well.

"Good, because you only have two. Esteban is Max's friend, he's not family." I assured them, Hylla ducked out of the hug as quickly as she could before straightening her clothes and hair, she was obviously jittery about something, and I could already guess what.

"Esteban? As in Esteban _Garcia?_" She questioned breezily, Reyna escaped the hug as well and looked between Hylla and I slightly confused.

"Yes, Esteban Garcia, Antonia's brother. He was in your science class, wasn't he?" I asked, I knew the answer, but Hylla's nod confirmed it, I turned to Reyna. "Esteban was your sister's first crush in school, she was twelve." I informed her, Reyna's eyes doubled in size as she looked at Hylla.

"You mean to say you didn't always hate boys?" She let out a bark of laughter. "You can't complain about Jason anymore! You had a _crush._" Reyna gloated, Hylla scowled at me and I smiled at her, linking my arm with hers so she couldn't storm away as she would do.

"Who's Jason?" I asked Hylla, Reyna froze, the smile on her face disappeared as Hylla smirked.

"He's imaginary!" Reyna spluttered before dashing over to meet the new additions to our family, she shook Esteban's hand first with a wide smile directed at Hylla.

"Who's Jason?" I repeated, the sun cast a shadow over Hylla's face as she grinned widely, in the lighting she rather resembled the Cheshire cat.

"I'll explain later, over dinner." Hylla promised, we joined Reyna and I shot Esteban a warning glare before he shook Hylla's hand, he gulped and turned away nervously.

* * *

"A toast; to family." Max declared holding up his champagne, Esteban followed suit, looking directly at Hylla with a smile, Hylla rolled her eyes but raised her own flute.

"To family." I repeated, I raised my glass and smiled at my daughters, Reyna held up her glass of apple juice along with Shaun and Elisa, I sipped my drink before turning to Reyna. "Hylla tells me you lead an army of Romans." I noted, Reyna nodded, a hint of pride in her eyes. "Explain it to me, what's it like?" I questioned, Reyna set down her fork to sip her juice for a moment.

"For one, it's tiring alone, there are two praetors to divide the work, they are elected on June 24th at the feast of Fortuna, or after a battle, this is done by raising your shield." Reyna informed us, Hylla twirled her pasta around, I'd never seen her so interested in Roman politics before.

"Is this where Jason fits in?" I asked, Hylla snickered as Reyna froze before nodding, there was her interest for any politics.

"Yes, Jason and I are the current praetors of Camp Jupiter, we were elected two years ago, I was elected at the feast of Fortuna, and Jason was raised on the shields after the battle of mount Tam." Reyna added, I briefly recalled that Hylla had mentioned that Reyna's partner had disappeared in October, no name had ever been given.

"Jason is the partner that went missing, is that right?" I questioned, Reyna shot Hylla a glare before nodding. "You kept his position open for the entire time he was gone, I'm impressed." Reyna blushed slightly before controlling her expression.

"Thank you." She replied, I sensed she wanted to change the subject so I turned to Hylla.

"Tell me more about this all-female army, you've scarcely mentioned it in your letters." Hylla smiled proudly as she took a bite of pasta, Reyna nudged her older sister.

"There's not much I could say in present company." Hylla mused, I tilted my head slightly before she gestured to Max, Esteban and Shaun. "If I gave anything away you would want to visit, and I'd be forced to hold you prisoner, I have a policy against throwing family members in jail." Hylla added, Max and Esteban stared at her in shock.

"I've already been to jail." Shaun announced, Reyna leaned forward to stare at the younger boy in shock, looking past Hylla. "I'm 87% sure that Esteban and Max cheat in monopoly." He declared, I shared a laugh with Hylla, who high-fived Shaun.

"I'll play a game with you sometime." She promised, I smiled at my older daughter.

"Maybe you could reenact a tv show with me sometime." Esteban suggested, Hylla raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired boy before sipping her champagne lightly. "First dates." He clarified, I scoffed as Reyna let out a laugh.

"No." Max chuckled at Hylla's answer and Elisa stood up and began collecting the plates. I handed my fiancé my plate and ran a hand over her bump, feeling our child kick in response, we shared a smile.

"Who's got room for dessert?" I questioned, every hand went up at the table. "It's chocolate cake, and before anyone asks, no. I didn't make it." I informed them, Reyna's hand seemed to jump higher if it were possible, Hylla quickly joined her with a laugh, the excitement was clear in their eyes.

"Chocolate cake!" Shaun raced from the table to the kitchen without a second thought, making me chuckle, he was going to go far.

* * *

"Shaun's fast asleep." Elisa whispered as she joined me in the doorway to the living room, the grandfather clock finished chiming nine as the older trio of our children continued to watch their movie, Reyna was gripping the edge of the chair as her eyes never left the television, her bowl of popcorn had been abandoned in favour of the plot and details of the movie, the lights on the Christmas tree echoed on her face, the red, blue and green briefly flashing. "Which movie is this?" Elisa asked softly, I took her hand and guided her away from the doorway, towards my office.

"_Pocahontas_, Max and Hylla deemed it fit to re-educate Reyna in Disney movies. It's nearly finished now." I told her, we reached the kitchen and I began the kettle to make hot chocolate.

"How many times has she cried?" Elisa asked with a playful smile, I returned it as I pulled out a bag of jellybeans, Elisa rolled her eyes when she saw the bag. "I swear you love those more than you love me." She laughed. "It's surprising that you haven't passed your love of jellybeans onto Hylla and Reyna." I offered her a handful of the colourful candies but she declined.

"Hylla's first word was jellybean." I told her as I pushed the beans into my mouth.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Elisa commented dryly.

"Because it's kind of obvious." Reyna remarked, we both stared at her as she stood in the doorway holding her bowl of popcorn. "The movie finished." She informed us, I handed her the bag to hold as Elisa put away the excess popcorn, the kettle whistled and I began making the mugs of hot chocolate.

"What did you think?" Elisa asked, I turned to look at Reyna to find she'd disappeared, taking the jellybeans with her. Elisa laughed and shook her head.

"No child is safe in this house." She teased, her hand rested on her stomach as she took the tray of hot drinks from the counter, I followed her into the living room where Hylla was seated at the piano, Max held his flute to his lips and they were playing a soothing melody that was lulling Reyna to sleep.

"Hot chocolate anyone?" I offered, Elisa placed the tray on the table and handed a mug to a half-asleep Reyna, she took it gratefully, I took another mug and gave it to Hylla, who stopped tinkling with the ivory keys instantly, she blew over her drink before sipping it cautiously.

"Recipe hasn't changed." I assured my older daughter, Hylla nodded, a content smile graced her face. I glanced at the clock to see it coming reach half past nine, I hadn't imagined that we'd spent that much time. "What's next?" I asked, Hylla smirked and held up Cinderella, I took the sofa with Elisa and wrapped an arm around Reyna as Hylla sat on the floor in front of me, Max put in the movie and sat against an armchair.

* * *

**This is exactly why I am angry at one of the characters, Esteban. IT IS BECAUSE I SHIP HIM AND HYLLA SO BADLY IT HURTS! THIS AU IS GIVING ME AU IDEAS! Yeah, I've gone slightly crazy... I might lock him up somewhere soon, preferably with Hylla so he shuts up... That's an idea for later. I hope you guys like these guys, and you'll learn a lot more about them in the future. *Hint hint, wink wink***

**Let me know what you guys think, I love to hear opinions on what can be improved, and what I'm doing right. (Or if the writing class I'm taking is paying off. XD)**

**Peace, love, I GOT A PIZZA! AND IT'S REALLY NICE!**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	4. Chapter 4

**Another week and another update, as promised. Mind you, I had half a mind not to update because once again, Esteban has been bugging me, I swear, you're all entitled to slap him if you want, but I am Hylla daughter of Bellona reminded me, so here I am updating. (Of course, she also agreed to be locked in a closet with Esteban. XD) But here is the fourth chapter for this story and I'm making headway with the eleventh. FINALLY! XD Okay, I'm just going to let you get on with this chapter. Have fun.**

**Word count: 2,655**

**I do not own the characters of Percy Jackson, I only own Luca, Elisa, Shaun and Max. I also don't own Humpty Dumpty.**

* * *

_December 30th_

Jason's Point of View:

_Dear Reyna,_

_I hope all is well with your vacation, I trust Hylla has gotten you both to your destination with precision and care. I know you must be wondering how things are here, everything is in working order, running ship-shape and we are following your written instructions to the letter, dotting the I's and crossing the T's, I like to think you'd be proud to return to this._

_Gwen, Dakota, Bobby, Hazel and Frank send their best wishes, they hope that wherever you are its nice and you're enjoying yourself, taking a break and not stressing about here. I hope that Hylla is well and taking care of herself as well, and that the two of you are enjoying your time as a family, it's important to love the family we have, because they could be gone in a split-second._

I paused the pen, reading over what I'd written so far before snatching the paper and throwing it in the general direction of the bin, it bounced off one of the papers that had already filled the bin and hit the floor, Aurum rose his head to stare at it before curling up again.

"What's the use, Aurum? I'm wasting my time writing letters to her, I don't even know where she is." I chuckled humourlessly, Argentum lifted her head from Reyna's throne at the noise, the ruby eyes bore into me. "You know you're not supposed to be there, Argen." I clicked my tongue at the silver dog, using the nickname I liked to call her. A sharp knock put both dogs on high alert before it opened and Hazel and Frank slipped into the room.

"We just came by to see how you were doing." Hazel said quietly, as not to disturb the peace in the room, Frank immediately glanced at the overflowing wastepaper bin.

"Clearly you could be doing better." He noted, Aurum gave a low growl.

"What did your grandmother teach you about respecting your superiors, _Centurion_ Zhang?" I asked calmly, I hated pulling rank on my friends, but I had to treat everyone fairly.

"To sass back when the moment is appropriate, Praetor Grace." Frank answered with no hesitation, I leaned back in contentment, Frank had grown in leaps and bounds in the time I had known him, he stood up for what he knew to be right and held himself higher, I'd seen him gain more respect for this.

"Point to you, Frank." I acknowledged, Frank chuckled and smiled, Hazel stepped forward and smiled at Argentum.

"We did have an ulterior motive for coming here, other than to check up on how you are doing." Hazel explained, I raised my eyebrows at her inquisitively. "There is a goddess at the border of the camp, she's looking for you." Hazel answered carefully.

"It's Bellona." Frank supplied helpfully, I gulped and glanced at the metal dogs, Argentum barked at me to stand up and I straightened my toga before proceeding to the door.

"Do you think she is aware that Reyna left for her vacation three days ago?" Hazel inquired as we strolled across the Via Principalis to the Praetorian Gate, a large crowd had gathered, the people parted to make way for me, Hazel and Frank hurried to follow me. The crowd, despite it's outward appearance of a mass, was shallower than I'd first seen, we reached the goddess in record time.

"Praetor Jason Grace." Bellona acknowledged when I came into her sight, the crowd dispersed immediately, her tone was crisp, forced politeness. "Son of the almighty Jupiter, brother of Thalia Grace of the hunters of Diana." I nodded respectfully.

"Lady Bellona, always a pleasure." I replied, kneeling immediately, the goddess motioned for me to rise, her dark eyes held no-nonsense.

"There is no need for that, I'm hardly here on business, nor pleasure, I'm merely running an errand for Mercury." I noticed the crisp white envelope in her hands, her fingers repeatedly ran along the flap that held the paper closed, there was no insignia of any sort, no way to tell at a glance who it was from.

"An errand, my lady?" I questioned, Lady Bellona held up the envelope to the sun, the white shifted to translucent immediately, allowing us both to see the slip of paper in the corner, hardly a letter.

"I'll have you know that I don't like playing mail service for gods who don't know when they have bitten off more than they can chew." The crisp envelope was handed to me without hesitation. "I'd read that privately if I were you, away from prying eyes and ears." Bellona advised, I shrugged and opened the letter, a brief paragraph greeted me.

_I know your name, I know who you are, and I know how much you mean to her, that will not change my opinion of you by any means until you prove worthy of her affections. I will give you some time to realise what is going on, she's due back sundown of January 16th, I'll give you until then to decide, the minute after the sun sets, your time will start, and you risk losing her forever. You wouldn't want to hurt her, would you?_

I looked up at the goddess, she had her eyes shielded from the cold sun as she stared at the sky, Bellona didn't look at any of us as her eyes swept over the horizon.

"Lady Bellona, do you understand this?" I asked, Bellona stopped her examination to give me the same look Reyna gave me when I'd stated something completely obvious.

"No." She answered shortly.

"Could it be Hylla? She's never liked me, but I didn't think she'd go as far as to kidnap her own sister to te-"

"Anything Hylla does is to protect Reyna, while she has made some mistakes she has done them in what she believes is Reyna's best interests, I very much doubt this is Hylla's work." Bellona cut me off forcefully, I shrunk back slightly, she'd always intimidated me. Bellona paused thoughtfully. "At least, I could check for you within the next two weeks, there is a small ceremony I plan to visit briefly and I'm aware my daughters shall be in attendance." Bellona added, slightly calmer.

"Thank you, my lady, take all the time you need." I assured her, Bellona nodded thoughtfully before turning away from us, everyone in the vicinity covered their eyes quickly.

"You might want to consider closing your eyes this time, Jason." Bellona teased with a taunting laugh, I covered my eyes completely and turned away before the bright flash of a god or goddess revealing their true form burned solid white and disappeared, when I turned back, there was nothing that could tell the goddess had been, the air was still.

* * *

Reyna's Point of View:

"Hylla told me she used to read these books to you when you were young, your father even told me that they'd been read to you before you were born." Elisa informed me as she handed a set of books, I glanced at the titles, they were children's stories and nursery rhymes. I glanced at Hylla who was setting out the plates and napkins for our meal, she looked up and smiled when she saw the pile of books.

"It was my inspiration for your safecode." Hylla mused, I set down the books and flicked through the top book, the book was full of rhymes, I paused at the one of the egg.

"_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall._" I recited, Hylla quickly pushed me into a chair and kneeled in front of me, I gasped in surprise.

"_All the kings horses and all the kings men, put Reyna's mind together again._" Hylla whispered, her eyes bore into mine, identical in every way, from shape to shade, as I watched my sister's face I could see it de-aging in my mind, running back years to when she was younger than I was now.

_"A failsafe, if we ever leave this paradise, not that I see us doing so, I need to know that she can regain her memories if something were to happen to me, I'd want my father to know." Hylla pleaded with C.C. I was only half-listening as I watched the guinea pigs, standing well back, Hylla had already told me off for getting too close._

_"How would this failsafe work? You and I would be the only ones to know this code and be the only ones who could activate it." C.C. reasoned with Hylla, my sister nodded her head._

_"In the event that I am unable to return her memories before my dying breath, you would need to set the memories free, I need you to swear on the river Styx that you will do this for me, Madam C.C., I don't want to worry about what would happen to her if anything happened to me."_

_"I swear on the river Styx." Thunder boomed, the guinea pigs scuttled back into their little houses and I laughed._

_I.I_

_"Don't go too far, princess." Dad called as I wandered along the shore, the late spring water cooled my feet and the sand I walked along, I watched as he and Hylla returned to their conversation about a boy in Hylla's class._

_"Boys are icky, I'm never going to fall in love." I gave my input as I hopped over the sea-foam._

_"Preaching to the choir, Rey." Hylla remarked, I giggled and hopped another small wave. "Daddy, can't you home-school me, like when I was little." Hylla pleaded softly, I paused to pick up a pretty seashell._

_"Hylla, I have a job I can't quit to teach you, I'd love to but I can't. Besides, you'd miss your friends if you weren't attending school and I know they are as important to you as Reyna is." Daddy explained, Hylla let out a sigh._

_"You're right. But can you erase the incident from everyone's memories? I don't want to keep getting laughed at, it's embarrassing." Hylla muttered, I turned the shell over, it was larger than my hand, different pastel colours decorated the top._

_"Can you do that for me too, Frankie keeps making fun of me for spilling my apple juice." I added, daddy rolled his eyes affectionately at the both of us._

_"Come here, Reyna." He requested, I ran over and sat down on his legs, he took the shell from my hands and put it with the others I'd collected so far. "I'm going to tell you both something I want you to remember for the rest of your lives." Hylla nodded compliantly, I followed immediately after her. "Embarrassment is something we all have to go through, sure it may feel like you're the only people getting laughed at right now, but sooner or later someone else will come along and people will laugh at them. It's not nice to laugh at others, and I'm sure you don't like how you feel right now." Dad looked between us until we nodded._

_"It sucks." Hylla whispered, drawing her knees to her chest._

_"Hylla's right." I agreed, dad patted my head softly before wrapping his arm around Hylla in a hug._

_"When you're about to laugh at someone, remember how you feel when people laugh at you, it's okay to laugh with the person who did something embarrassing, but when they're not laughing, it's hurtful, we don't shoot our own because he's down." I nodded._

_"I promise." I declared before jumping up and running back to the sea._

_"Of course, dad." Hylla answered, I began kicking the waves to see if they would go back to the sea when a stray piece of seaweed was pushed towards me._

_"Lucky, lucky me, seaweed." I picked up the green stuff to find it wasn't as paper-like as I'd first seen, or as stray. The tentacle squirmed from my hand as I stared in shock, wrapping itself around my waist and tugging me into the sea. "No, I'm not supposed to go in without daddy." I planted my feet on the crumbly sand under the water, the tentacle tugged harder and I stumbled slightly._

_"Reyna..." Daddy called, I turned to look at him and Hylla, they were watching me with worry, I opened my mouth to scream for help when the arm dragged me under. Salt water filled my mouth and nose, I closed my eyes from the stinging as I moved through the water, I wanted to cry, to scream and demand to be taken to daddy, the arm hurt my sides and I was scared. A rumbling sound scared my eyes into opening, my eyes followed the tentacle to a dark, inhuman shape, it's mouth opened in a wide roar, the gap was at least four times my size._

_"Daddy." I squeaked, it didn't help, more water got into my mouth, I squeezed my eyes shut again, hoping it was all a bad dream and I'd wake up in the morning with Hylla in my bed and daddy sleeping on the floor. I blacked out as I felt myself move again._

I gasped as I regained consciousness, clutching my throat as I felt my lungs filling with air, not water, Hylla was still kneeling in front of me, her eyes filled with sorrow, Elisa had left the room. Hylla and I were alone.

"I don't understand..." I murmured, Hylla sighed and crossed her legs, firmly sitting on the floor.

"Dad went after you, he never described what he saw under the water, I don't suppose he could." Hylla explained, she tilted her head thoughtfully. "It definitely wasn't a Squid, or an Octopus, that much was obvious, I'd seen the tentacles wrapped around you both." I pulled up my shirt to look at the circular welts I'd always kept hidden, medics at Camp Jupiter had been baffled when they saw them, it wasn't just on my stomach, the marks spread to the top of my legs and my upper arms.

"I can tell you it definitely wasn't the Trojan Sea Monster." I informed my sister, Hylla tugged down my shirt again, hiding the marks once again.

"I know, I was studying Latin at the time." We shared a look, while we both knew it wasn't the Trojan Sea Monster that Jason had defeated, it was definitely mythical in origin.

"Is everything alright?" Elisa asked as she rejoined us with filled plates, the scent made my mouth water, both Hylla and I nodded. "You can wash up for dinner now, I've got this." Hylla stood up and took my arm, leading me to the door of the dining room. "Oh, and I was wondering if you'd like to go shopping with me for bridesmaid dresses this week?" I nodded slowly, pausing in the doorway, I glanced back carefully.

"That's very kind of you, Elisa." Hylla complimented, Elisa smiled and set the dishes down in the center of the table.

"It's nothing. You'd better hurry if you want to beat Max and Shaun to the table." Hylla inclined her head before leading me from the room and up the stairs to our rooms.

"Bridesmaids, that's an interesting concept." I mused, Hylla chuckled and pushed me towards the bathroom.

* * *

**What I'm really trying to do in the next few chapters is just to give you the storyline of what I imagine happened to Reyna and her family before and after Hylla and she left, so be prepared for more information because I am desperate to get this all out, and then the real fun can begin. XD I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I really hope that my class is paying off because I feel an improvement.**

**Peace, Love, Cookies?**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	5. Chapter 5

**YAY! Saturday, which means updates and foruming and hoping that chapters will write themselves, good news, chapter eleven is moving along and for that I am extremely grateful, because otherwise, come chapter twelve I will be in extremely hot water. But in other news, your promised chapter five. I'll keep this nice and short, because I have other things to do, and I hope you guys like this chapter, it's the shortest chapter by far.**

**Word count: 1236.**

**The book War: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly does not exsist to my knowledge, and I don't own it or the characters, Rick Riordan owns the characters.**

* * *

_December 31st_

Reyna's Point of View:

"You shouldn't read that." Dad muttered as he re-entered his study with a tray filled with two cups and two bags of jellybeans, I looked up from the book, biting my lip to prolong the tears that wanted to fall, I'd let them fall later, when I was alone in my room, while everyone else slept.

"You shouldn't have it in your bookshelf." I quipped as he set down the tray on his desk, I set down the book beside it and picked up the mug, there was a pause as we both stared at the title: _War: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly._

"I figure we've both seen enough battlefields to last us our lifetimes. You're young, you should be reading textbooks, and love stories where the hero always gets the girl. You keep reading stuff like this and you're only going to unsurp your sanity." Dad tapped the cover twice before picking it up and putting back on the shelf, I watched him, picking up one mug absent-mindedly, his shirt-sleeves were rolled up, revealing jagged scars littering his arms, there were a few clean cuts that I didn't want to dwell on.

"What do you mean by '_Unsurp my sanity_'?" I questioned, he turned around with a small smile.

"You're a clever girl, you tell me." He quipped, I pondered the phrase in my head for a moment.

"If you think about all the 'what-if's', the changes you could have made, the lives you could have _saved_, eventually you're going to live in the past, seeing it happen over and over every night in slow motion, so you see the exact seconds you had to save their life as well as your own." I guessed, dad nodded sadly.

"You drive yourself mad with survivor's guilt, instead of remembering the good times you had with them, you think about who they left behind, it eats you up. There's nothing you can do to change what happens during war, but you can move forward and not let it consume you." I sipped the hot chocolate, savouring the taste of it.

"Someone once told me that we are not gods, we shouldn't have to play god and decide who lives or dies, it is not our decision to make, and we should not try." I murmured, dad's hand lingered on the spine of the book for a few seconds longer before turning to the jellybeans.

"They're right. We're only human, and we make mistakes, as do the gods, but the decision to end someone's life should never be left in the hands of mere mortals, because they can forget, we can only justify our actions. But that doesn't make ending someone's life right." I nodded, plucking a jellybean.

"Hylla's first word was jellybean?" I asked, changing the subject to lighter topics. "She told me that mine was the spanish word for water, and you and Elisa were talking about it the other night. What prompted that?" I asked, dad chuckled.

"Si, _Aqua_ was your first word and Hylla's was jellybean, she was one year and three months old and I was eating from a bag of jellybeans when she stood up and pointed at the bag, demanding one. I was so startled that I dropped the bag, your sister retrieved it and ate the entire thing." Dad recalled fondly, I laughed, trying to imagine Hylla doing that. Jason had always said I was a secret jellybean fanatic.

"This love of jellybeans runs in the family then?" I joked, dad nodded.

"Only right, ever since jellybeans have been around they've been a favourite snack in this family, by no means healthy of course." I let out another laugh.

"Of course." I agreed, the conversation moved to a grey topic.

"This boy, Jason. He's special to you." I controlled my expression, feeling my cheeks heat up, I put three jellybeans in my mouth to buy some time.

"He is special to everyone." I treaded carefully on the subject. "Jason has been at camp since he was three years old, he was raised in the fifth cohort, which has been the shame of Camp Jupiter for thirty years, but he's never let it bother him. He's quite proud of his cohort, and he should be, for being the last of the pick, the fifth cohort has churned out excellent characters, they're more friendly than any other cohort." I mused, dad gave me a look.

"That's his cohort, what about him as a person." He prompted, I picked up a blue jellybean and tilted my head.

"He's Roman, through and through. A good, strong leader, he's good with words, he knows how to soothe people's fears, and is great with little kids, there's a six-year-old in New Rome, who idolizes him. Jason follows orders to the letter, he makes sacrifices for the good of others, and takes care of his own, he knows his place and he keeps to it, unless there is someone in need of help. Jason is Camp Jupiter's saving grace, and I wouldn't have him any other way." Dad nodded and motioned for me to sit across from him, I took the seat delicately.

"I'd like to meet this boy one day, he obviously means a lot to you, and to many people it seems. I hope he knows how precious it all is." I smiled, finishing the rest of my drink in one go.

"I'm sure he does." The clock struck midnight with a ring, I counted the twelve chimes before fireworks began outside.

"Happy New Year, Reyna. May this year be filled with laughter, friends, and happiness." Dad murmured before he left to with Elisa, Hylla, Max and Shaun the same.

"Happy New Year." I called after him, the colourful lights shone through the window as the lights dimmed on cue, they illuminated the room, filling me with a sense of hope. "Happy New Year, my Argonaut." I whispered to no-one.

* * *

Jason's Point of View:

"_Happy New Year, New Rome!_" Leo cheered through the iris-message, he fist-pumped before Piper pushed him out of the screen with a laugh.

"_Leo, it's not New Year in California yet. Try again in three hours_." She chided, I looked over her shoulder to see Percy and Annabeth locked in a passionate embrace and recalled them not being able to do that last year, their first New Year together as a couple.

"I think it should still count. Happy New Year guys." I smiled, Leo rejoined Piper on the iris-message with a grin.

"_See, Beauty Queen. It counts._" Piper rolled her eyes affectionately before ending the connection, a small wave goodbye and the four were gone. I turned to Frank and Hazel, who had pretended to be interested in the blades of grass at our feet.

"You know, it could be midnight where Reyna is too. We could still send her our wishes." Bobby suggested, I looked at Gwen, who sat beside him, she smacked Bobby around the head. "Hey! It was just a suggestion!" He whined.

"I know, we just felt like hitting you." Gwen shrugged, Dakota cackled before taking another swig of kool-aid.

"The suggestion is something we could still do, on three everyone wish Reyna a good new year." I piped up, Gwen counted to three out loud and we all closed our eyes.

_Happy New Year, My Queen._

* * *

**Thank you for sticking to the end of the chapter, I don't know what to say at this point so I'm going to ramble a little, as always I guess. I've made a promise to myself to stick to this story and finish it, and I'm also going to finish all of my other stories, eventually. I just have a lot more ideas for this story right now and I want to keep it that way for a while, so expect this to end differently from all of my other stories, this will be finished.**

**Peace, Love, *T.A.R.D.I.S noises***

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another week, and another chapter, and I'd like to apologise in advance to everyone who reads this authors note, I wrote this chapter after I read the House of Hades, and I was still running on high emotions, and when I sat down to let my feelings out, they came out in the worst way possible, I know I could have changed this, but it will be a big part of the story later. XD I hope you don't hate me too much for this chapter. XD**

**Word count: 2,092**

**I don't own Percy Jackson, or any of the characters. XD**

* * *

_January 1st_

Esteban's Point of View:

"What are they doing?" I asked Max, further out in the garden Hylla and Reyna were darting about, playing-fighting with plastic swords like young children, the sisters were smiling as they slashed and parried each other's attacks, evading, and finding openings.

"Training, they don't want to get sloppy just because they are on vacation." Max explained patiently, I nodded, my friend had explained a lot to me about the demigod world since Antonia had sussed him out, some complicated thing I felt I would never understand about mist.

"The plastic swords?" I ventured, might as well go the whole hog. Max spared me a glance before returning to referee the match. "The mist." The words were dry in my mouth, another thing separating me from the older sister, it had explained all of her actions when we were younger, and the 'hallucinations' she'd shared with Antonia. The words always left me with a bitter aftertaste, there was a world my best friend was a part of, and the woman I knew once held a torch for me shared that world, I could never be a part of it.

"You don't have to sound so adverse to it, Esteban." I turned to see my sister behind me, like Hylla, Antonia had grown well in the years of her absence, her hair had grown from shoulder-length, now she kept it pinned up. "Count yourself lucky to not see the monster your best friend faces." My sister tittered and stood at my shoulder, five inches shorter than I was.

"Count yourself to be part of a secret world." I fired back, I still felt angry that she'd gotten this special gift and I was left behind, only able to see what others wanted me to see.

"It doesn't work that way, Esteban." Max said aloud, Antonia darted forward to greet the sisters, who stopped their sparring to talk to her, Max focused his full attention on me. "I know you are angry because your sister seems to have it all worked out, that's because she does. The mist doesn't always project what people want you to see and hear, it also projects what you want to see, the things you see are from your mind, protecting you from this madness." I looked at where Hylla was catching up with Antonia, the two gossiping like they had before she'd left, I saw her smile, revealing white teeth and felt determination bubble up inside me.

"What if I want to be mad?" I asked quietly, Max gave me a warm smile.

"Then I'd say you're crazy, you're halfway there already." I chuckled. "Hey, Toni. Come on, let them get back to sparring and the three of us can get ice cream." Max called to my sister, Antonia glanced back casually, before returning to her previous conversation with Hylla and Reyna.

"Leave her, she's happy to have her friend back." I defended Antonia, I felt my heart warm to see my sister so happy, I hadn't seen her this way in so long, and before that I hadn't cared for more than a year. I'd been a jerk to my baby sister and I wanted to redeem that, especially if it put me in Hylla's good books. "She can play ref, while we get some ice cream." We left the garden and ducked through the kitchen, waving to Elisa as we passed, Luca and Shaun were in the living room, the older man helping Shaun with his holiday homework.

"So, you wanna tell me about this business with Hylla?" Esteban asked as we closed the front door behind us, I looked at him and jogged towards the gate, suddenly finding a lot of pent-up energy inside me, I waited beside the gate until Max had caught up and then waited until we'd left the property line before speaking.

"I don't know, when she was twelve she had this dorky little crush on me, it was not subtle, really obvious but I admit I encouraged it. Although she was weird and only had one friend her entire life, that friend being Antonia, it was a nice stroke to my ego to see the confident, albeit odd, heiress stutter because I said 'hi'." I confessed, Max looked between me and the house, as if now noticing the size of the villa-like mansion.

"I'm sensing a but..." Max pressed on, we strolled down the road at a leisurely pace, not in a rush to reach the city district.

"_But_, she runs away at barely thirteen years old, taking her kid sister and comes back this grown _woman_..." My palms started sweating and I wiped them on my jeans, disgusted. "Oh God." Max corrected with the plural and I brushed it aside. "When she walked through those doors I did not think that was her." I chanced a sideways glance at Max, he was obviously fighting a smile, he needed to practise his poker face. "Now she's the one with the cool facade and it's taking all I have not to beg her to go out with me." Max couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, and I didn't blame him, I'd done the same to Hylla when I was alone and I'd still do it to anyone who told me a similar story.

"Sounds like you got it bad, you're not exactly Mr Freeze." I glared at him as he stopped to double over, fresh laughter spilling out of him in waves.

"_Hermano_, you are not being helpful. I want her, but I also want to hold her hand and take her to movies to watch her watching the movies." I grabbed him by the shoulders and supported him upright. "_It's gotten so bad I want to see her sign her name with my last name_." My voice had turned hysterical and I was speaking rapid spanish as I clung to my friend, I felt absolutely terrified, my emotions were all over the place.

"Firstly, calm down. Secondly, _no hablos enspanol._" Max enunciated clearly, I pulled myself away, ashamed of my breakdown and slapped myself across myself to clear my head. At once I felt calmer, more controlled, but the daunting prospect still hung on the edge of my mind, no matter how hard I tried to push it away.

"Just forget it, she'll be gone in a few weeks and I can forget about her again. It'll be like this whole event never happened, we can go back to being the three _amigos_ again." I clapped him on the back, a smile lighting up my face, I could almost taste the freedom on the horizon, although the clouds still hung.

"Except she'll be coming back for more holidays, to see Toni, her dad and her future sister. Who knows, maybe one day she'll decide she wants to rule the Amazons from here, she'll come back and settle here." My head rung and the pent-up energy flowed back into me, I felt nauseous, to be constantly set free when she leaves and then broken by her return. I'd become a shell of the man I am now by the third time, Max didn't help matters by laughing at my predicament and reminding me of it.

"Oh God." I whispered, I didn't want ice cream anymore, I wanted to get as far away from Hylla as I possibly could, but I also wanted to return to her side, never to leave it again. The sides conflicted.

"Maybe it's best if we don't get ice cream." Max said quietly, the city ahead spun, the ground shaking as if it were laughing at me, finding my misery amusing. I'd learned about gods of misery in Latin when I was twelve, they hadn't appealed to me then, and they appealed even less, didn't they even have children? Were their children cursed with eternal misery?

"But I was looking forward to ice cream." Reyna pitched in, I straightened up to see the trio behind us, we hadn't gotten very far and they'd caught up with us easily. Between Max's laughter fit, and my nervous breakdown, it probably hadn't taken them very long.

"Something the matter, Esteban?" Hylla spoke the words in her native language, the Spanish light and airy on her tongue, her eyes pierced through me, the dark irises the colour of my new nightmares. My mouth was dry, I couldn't find the words to speak, which troubled me, I'd been avoiding her since she'd shot me down the first night, admiring from afar, now all her attention was focused on me. Antonia smirked, obviously knowing what ailed me, it spurred me to act confident, a façade wouldn't kill me.

"Not at all, Hylla. Thank you for your concern." I replied, the reply coming out in our native tongue, the heiress flashed a perfectly formed smile before shepherding Reyna between Max and I, letting her perfume waft into my senses. I felt like throwing up.

"Green does not look good on you." Max informed me quietly before he quickwalked to throw a casual arm over Reyna's shoulder, he pointed out something to her on the skyline, like a big brother should. As Hylla glanced over her shoulder and flashed me another perfect smile I was reminded to walk again, but as I jogged to catch her up, I couldn't help but feel that I was heading towards my doom, she would be the death of me. It would be slow, and painful, and by the end, I'd be nothing but a burnt out husk, I couldn't find a more appealing option of death, it was what I deserved after all.

"What flavour are you getting?" I asked Reyna, in trying to be casual, the youngest girl shrugged.

"Ice cream on the first day of the year, this makes _perfect sense_." I chuckled and matched her pace, she was easier to talk to, just as sarcastic as her sister, exact same features, but she held her own sense of style, in short, she was an easier-to-talk-to version of Hylla, I found it easier to speak to the younger girl, knowing she had her own quirks, and I had no personal history with her.

"It's tradition, kid. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it." I quipped, the teen nodded her head, agreeing.

"I'll give it a shot." We reached the city and I immediately directed everyone to our favourite hotspot, Mario's, he did the best authentic Italian ice cream. Our mother had always taken Antonia and I there for as long as I could remember.

"Are we going to Mario's?" Hylla asked, amusement laced her voice and I cursed in my head, it was, by default, the closest to her house, of course she knew Mario's. She turned to Reyna, slipping in-between us with no effort, her perfume invading my senses again. "We used to go there every summer on our way to the beach, I'd forgotten how wonderful it was." I liked the way she spoke, her laughter molded with her voice as she reminded her sister of all the good times they'd shared here before leaving.

"I remember it." Reyna assured her sister, her eyes lighting up. The two raced ahead, desperate for a taste of what they'd once lost, and with little encouragement, Antonia chased after them on the street, leaving Max and I again.

"I think it's intensified by your guilty conscience." Max decided as I paused to dry heave into a drain, his dad was the god of healing, he was probably right. "I just can't decide if it's Aphrodite or Eros that Luca should be thanking." Max laughed as I found strength to swing at him half-heartedly.

"Which one is more sadistic?" I mocked, Max pretended to think about it, making a small burst of thunder bloom warningly.

"Eros it is." He laughed, he hoisted me up by my underarms and pushed me after the girls. I couldn't have asked for a better friend than him, even if his future stepsister was going to utterly destroy me.

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**My mother is playing christmas songs. *Sigh* I can hear it from up in my room and it's kind of irritating me, so I'm going to put on something I like before I hurt a character... again...**

**Peace, Love, SORRY!**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	7. Chapter 7

**If you're actually still reading at this point, I commend you, because frankly, I think this isn't my best work but it's been a source of my frustration for nearly a year at this point, so I'm going to see this through because I really want to write the ending, but chapter 11 is making headway, good because it's not long until I have to post that too, yay!**

**Word Count: 1,866**

**As always, I don't own Percy Jackson or the characters related, I don't own the song How To Save A Life by the Fray, and I never will, I don't make money off of this, I only do this for fun.**

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_January 2nd_

Hylla's Point of View:

I stared out of the window, watching Max and Esteban tackle each other in a two-man game of football, Antonia had agreed to ref so I had retreated to the nook I'd loved to use as a child, it was a large space hidden under the second floor stairs, granting a great view over the back garden. It used to be the clubhouse Antonia and I used when it rained, our old drawings still decorated the wall. I peeled one off, keeping the blu-tack intact, the scene was obviously a wedding, I recognised the picture, I'd drawn it when I was twelve and hid it in here, never to be found by anyone outside of our little club. I blinked with surprise as the secret door to the hiding place opened, Reyna stood on the other side, watching me carefully, I carefully wiped away the tears that gathered in my eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, she slipped into the space with me, I was grateful that it was so large, because otherwise we wouldn't have fitted, the idea made me laugh slightly.

"This." I passed the drawing to Reyna and lifted up one of the many cushions I'd hoarded in here to make it a proper den, my wedding scrapbook was still under there, I didn't touch it. "I can't believe how much has changed since I drew that." Reyna drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"You and Toni let me in here once, before we left; I became an initiate of your girl's club, we had a jellybean feast with hot chocolate." My sister recalled, she eyes grew glass-like as she marvelled at the nook. "The three of us told jokes and looked through the wedding scrapbooks you and Toni kept until it got dark, and Esteban came to pick up Toni." I chuckled, remembering that day, it had been three months before we'd left. After dad showed Esteban where our secret clubhouse lay, we'd abandoned it temporarily for a room on the upper floors, if only until we decided he wouldn't think to try looking for us there again.

"You blabbed about the wedding scrapbook." I accused Reyna, she gave an innocent smile. "Come on, let's get out of here, close the window and we'll make a tactical retreat to my room. I know where all my hiding spots are, and I stocked up on fresh sweets." I taunted, Reyna pushed open the door again, sliding out into the hall. Once she'd left I picked up the picture she'd dismissed and tacked it back up, leaving the clubhouse as I'd found it, unused but tidy. Once we were sat on my bed I stared at the bag of colourful beans, choosing the first one carefully.

"Something's eating at you, and it's not a monster." Reyna observed, she scooped out a handful without hesitation and I laughed at her.

"It is most certainly a monster." I disagreed, Reyna watched me, not touching her jellybeans. "I don't know why I agreed to stay, Esteban and I have history, and it's not like your history with Jason." Reyna began to protest but I silenced her with a look. "He was my first crush, and I put him on a pedestal, he was everything I thought a boyfriend should be; mature, handsome, kind. It seemed there was a difference of opinion, I thought he could be king of the gods, he thought I was a dorky kid, I didn't realise that at the time though. I felt lucky that he even talked to me." Reyna gave me an incredulous look. "I was twelve, sue me." I muttered.

"Not going to, carry on." Reyna replied quietly, she began munching on the jellybeans as if the story were a soap opera.

"It wasn't until a few years later that I knew how he really felt." I confessed, Reyna's gaze softened. "When I was training with Circe, she insisted on a break and offered me the chance for me to see one person of my past, any person and she'd show me my greatest memory of them. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I took it." I played with the white bedspread beneath my hands, tucking and twisting the fabric. "I could have asked for dad, I could have asked for Toni, but I still held a torch for Esteban, and I chose him." I felt my stomach churn as it had done after seeing the vision.

"Hylla... You don't have to tell me." Reyna whispered, her concern flowed through the room.

"I need to tell someone. Nobody else knows." I replied quietly, at once Reyna set down the jellybeans and put her hand over mine, offering support. "I bought him a rose for St Valentine's Day, I'd come to visit Antonia and her mom, we were going shopping for clothes as we were growing so quickly at that point. Before we left, I took the flower up to Esteban with a card, he took them with a big smile on his face, and thanked me, even giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek in return. The memory should have ended there, when I left, but it allowed me to see what happened after he'd closed the door. He discarded them, throwing them in the direction of his bin and laughed." I felt the tears well up again and brushed at them furiously, it'd do me no good to cry over him.

"Hylla..." Reyna murmured, she squeezed my hand for comfort.

"I exploded the blender that Circe used to make the potion, I was so angry, _humiliated._ I swore that I would never fall for him again." I sensed the gears churning in Reyna's mind.

"That's why you didn't tell Blackbeard about dad. They'd bring us here and you would have had to see him sooner than you did." I raised an eyebrow at my sister. "Also, they'd kill us all." She added, I chuckled, glad that part of our lives was over. I also felt a lot better now I'd told someone else about that day. "So, would you care to tell me why you chose mint green and white as the colour scheme for your bedroom?" Reyna challenged, a smirk growing across her face as I glanced around my room. She was right, the furniture was all white, the floors white-pine, the walls were white, the only green was the underside of my blanket, green with white dots, dad had redecorated for us, changing Reyna's room to what I hoped she'd like.

"I decided to make this my vacation home, the idea is for this to look like a holiday room in a villa." I couldn't say it didn't, because all it was missing was the golden sun streaming in at seven A.M. while waves crashed on the shore, but it was perfect.

"It is pretty." Reyna agreed, I laughed again and scooped up a handful of jellybeans, pouring them into my mouth until it was full. My sister took one look at me and burst into laughter, the peals echoing around the room, I was so absorbed in memorizing the sound that I failed to hear the door open.

"I knew there was something missing from this house, it's good to hear its return." I turned to see dad in the doorway, he was beaming from ear to ear as he watched us, his soft brown eyes were glowing with happiness and pride.

"I'd offer you a jellybean, but we need to start rationing them." I giggled through the jellybeans before chewing them carefully, dad chuckled.

"I was the one to clean out this room before you came, I know where you hide all your stashes." Dad quipped, I grinned at him. "Try not to eat too many, dinner will be soon and you'll spoil your appetites." He teased before continuing on to tell Shaun.

"No such thing!" Reyna and I called after him with laughs, I got up from the bed and walked over to the balcony doors, throwing them open to allow the January sunshine and winds to filter in, the sudden breeze allowed the curtains to dance in the room, I became still, a smile growing on my face, San Juan stood tall and proudly in front of me, barely a five-minute walk. I heard the sound of someone taking a picture and turned to see Reyna holding one of her presents, a brand new camera.

"You looked pretty." Reyna complimented me, I smiled and beckoned her forward.

"Here, let me take your picture like that." I laughed, we traded places and Reyna stood in the balcony doorway, her smile bloomed across her face as the wind caressed her in a light embrace, barely moving the free strands of hair that had fallen from her braid, I took careful aim and took the picture, immortalizing that moment.

"How'd they turn out?" Reyna asked, closing the doors once again before she darted to my side, I checked the pictures, they had both come out beautifully in their own ways.

"Perfect." I answered her question, we shared a smile and I was struck by how different, yet similar we were. I'd always known, we had the same physical features, eyes, hair, skin, freckles, our abilities, I still remained taller than Reyna, six to seven inches taller when in heels, three when I was out of them. There were a few differences, Reyna was quicker to forgive and forget, I would hold a grudge for years, and she knew it well. I reached out and turned on the radio, letting the music envelope us.

_He will do one of two things,_

_He will admit to everything,_

_Or he'll say he's just not the same,_

_And you'll begin to wonder why you came._

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend,_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness,_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night,_

_Had I known how to save a life._

"Shut up." I muttered to the radio, switching it off again, Reyna watched me silently. "Have you ever had that moment when you turn on the radio and there is a song that matches your situation?" I asked her, she gave a soft smile and squeezed my hand.

"Songs are relatable, I think I can smell dinner already." Reyna said, changing the subject, I sniffed the air and smelled pasta and garlic bread.

"Italian, my favourite." I smiled, we got up and Reyna gave me a quick hug before dancing out of the room, I took a deep breath, and followed her, I was prepared to be the dutiful actress and pretend I knew nothing about that day, I'd never give him a reason to suspect I did.

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**Well, that's it from me this week, I'll be back with more next week, see you then.**

**Peace, Love, Warmth.**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm still not sure how this document went from 1,881 words to 1,972 when I barely changed anything, that is a mystery to me. But hey, welcome back to La Isla Bonita, if you're even reading this story, or the author's note. Eh, what can I do? As I said in the sixth chapter, I really just want to push out information, the real stuff happens after chapter 11, but enough of trying to tempt you into continuing to read this story, I'll just let you get on with reading.**

**Word count: 1,972.**

**I do not own Hylla or Reyna, or anything Percy Jackson, I only own a copy of the books and the movies, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

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_January 3rd_

Reyna's Point of View:

"What happened when we left?" I asked dad, I placed both of my hands on the desk as he looked up from his work, he had been marking student's papers but he abandoned them to look at me with earnest brown eyes.

"Do you want the watered-down version, or everything?" He asked, I tilted my head to the right.

"Everything." I decided, dad gave a short nod. "I want to know what happened to everyone."

"I suspected as much, you're inquisitive." Dad steepled his fingers together and kept my gaze. "Your aunts, Maria and Linda were worried sick about you both, Maria, god bless her, was an angel, she moved in and made sure that I didn't die of starvation and took it upon herself to cook my every meal, despite being pregnant at the time." I remembered her, the woman who took the photos at Hylla's thirteenth birthday party, she'd sat next to me on the sofa and showed me the kicking.

"What'd she have?" I asked, dad smiled and handed one of the photos from his desk to me, there were seven people in the picture, aunt Maria and her husband, Harry, and I presumed, their five children.

"See the twins?" Dad asked, I located the two oldest, a girl and a boy, sat in the middle of the picture, their arms around each other. "Estrella and Ricardo. They're eleven now, then there's Abigail, who's ten, Casia's eight, and Diego's seven." I placed my finger on each of my cousin's faces, determined to remember them. "You can meet them all in person at the wedding, they live in the Dominican Republic now, and she is a formidable opponent, so beware." Dad warned, I giggled.

"Auntie Linda?" I prompted, I remembered she'd gone back to college that year, attending one somewhere in Argentina. She'd written to us because she hadn't been able to make Hylla's birthday, inside was a little piece of gossip about one of her classmates.

"Linda married the guy she met in college, his name is Juan, and she'll also be attending the wedding. They have three children now, and swear that's enough for them." Dad chuckled, he traded the photograph of aunt Maria's family, for auntie Linda. Whereas all of aunt Maria's children looked like her, skin, eyes, hair, Aunt Linda's children looked like their father, the older two, a boy and a girl both had her brown eyes, while the youngest, had the green eyes of her father, all three of them had his mocha hair colour.

"What are their names?" I asked softly, each of my cousins wore a smile that illuminated their faces.

"Dalia, Victor and Isabella." Dad answered, I pressed my finger over each of their faces as well, I couldn't wait to meet them in person and find out what each of their personalities were like. "Dalia's nine, Victor's seven and Isabella's four." Dad added, I set the photo down on the desk.

"Everyone else? Nana, Grandpa? Esteban? Antonia?" I didn't ask about the kids at my school, none of them had particularly liked me, I didn't worry, the feeling was positively mutual and it didn't bother me any more. Dad looked at another photo before passing it to me, it was of an elderly couple, sitting in identical rocking chairs on a patio, I recognised it as the patio in the back garden.

"Your grandfather passed away shortly after this photo was taken, five years ago, his heart failed him, mom has taken up residence _Salinas_, where they chose their retirement home, she occasionally visits and I take weekend trips to see her, make sure she's keeping well. I'll be leaving on the seventh for an overnight trip to collect her for the wedding, if you and Hylla would like to accompany me? I'm sure mom would love to see her favourite granddaughters again." Dad teased, I grinned, remembering Nana's house, it always smelled of cookies and cakes, she was always baking something in the kitchen and there was always something to take home with us. Grandpa loved to garden, he loved to put flowers in our hair, "adding to our natural beauty" he called it.

"I'd love to join you." I smiled, dad laughed, as if the answer was expected, and brushed his wavy hair away from his face. "Can I cut your hair while we're there?" I asked, the question slipped past my lips without thought, I hadn't given a second thought to hair since Blackbeard, I'd throw my own in a braid, but I still felt confident in my hair cutting abilities. Dad gave me an amused look but took a strand of his unruly hair and looked at it.

"If you think you can." He agreed, I nodded, determined.

"I can do the hair for the bridesmaids, it was my job on C.C's island to do the hair for the women who came to better themselves. I'd like to feel like I did something to help this wedding." I added, if he hadn't been convinced with the idea, dad certainly warmed to it now.

"Of course, we'll even pay you. Shall we call it, ten for every person, giving the three other bridesmaids, including your sister, Elisa, and the flower girl, you'd get fifty for the entire job." Dad said, I grinned and shook his hand. "Plus ten for my hair." I chuckled.

"So, Esteban, Antonia." I prompted, curious about the siblings that seemed so central to Hylla's life outside our home, dad paused, thoughtful.

"I don't know much, only what their mother told me. Antonia went to live with her dad, and Esteban retreated to his room, only coming out for the bare essentials and school." Dad informed me, I didn't want to believe that two of the most lively mortals I'd ever encountered had once been shells of the people they were, I hadn't known Esteban all too well when I was young, he only came to pick up Antonia and sometimes he'd ask me about my dancing and I'd ask about school, we'd never really talked about anything else.

"What about you?" I asked, realising dad had only mentioned that aunt Maria had moved in to take care of him, I remembered the scars on his arms and gulped.

"I'm not going to lie, I was a wreck for a long time." He rolled up the sleeves to show me the scars and I counted three clean-cut scars on each wrist. "I'm not proud of them, but I recovered, taking a sabbatical to look for you both by myself, but I couldn't find you. I barely held myself together, throwing myself into teaching and scouring the newspapers for any news of children turning up, I worried that one day I'd get the call that they'd found your bodies and wanted me to identify you." I reached across the desk and patted his hands, unsure of what else I could do.

"In a way, I'm glad you never found us." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "It's a long story, maybe one night we'll sit down and tell you the whole thing, but for now, I think it's best that we let old demons rest. There is no point in digging them all up at once." I smiled and rose from the chair.

"You'd better go and tell your sister of your plans next week, ask if she wants to join us." Dad encouraged, I gave a short nod and moved toward the door before darting around the desk and enveloping him in a hug, he smelled like the ocean, pencils and aftershave, and I was glad to have him back in my life.

"_Te amo, papa._" I whispered, savouring the words.

"_Te amo, princessa._" I felt tears threatening to spill and chuckled before we pulled apart, I wiped my eyes and smiled at him. "Now, I'd better get back to work, I wish papers would grade themselves, but they don't." He joked, looking at the papers in front of him.

"I feel the same way about Senate issues." I teased, I gave the papers a last look and with a brief hug to my dad, I left to get back to work, closing the office door behind me. Hylla and Antonia were just arriving home from a shopping trip.

"I picked up our dresses for the wedding." Hylla informed me, pointing at two garment bags that were draped over the banister.

"Great, I'm doing the hair for the wedding." I replied with a bright grin, I gave a warm smile to Antonia, I liked her, she was nice and Hylla trusted her, I addressed my sister again. "Also, dad's going to pick up Nana for the wedding next week, it's an overnight trip if you'd like to come with us." I suggested, Hylla didn't even have to think about it.

"Of course." She gestured to the garment bags again. "The one on the left is yours, hang it in your wardrobe and try not to grow this week." She ordered, I took it, slinging it over my arm delicately.

"I doubt I'm even going to grow anymore, I haven't had a growth spurt since I was fifteen." I grumbled.

"I hope that doesn't mean you're due for one. Now go, I refuse to be responsible for that dress creasing before the wedding." I scarpered up the stairs and met Esteban on the second landing, he was standing by the clubhouse. His hand outstretched as if he meant to open it, but he froze when he saw me.

"Hylla and Antonia have returned." I told him, taking a small step towards my room, he nodded dumbly, there was an awkward silence between us. "I'm going to put this away now... I think they're going to come upstairs soon, there are clothes to be put away." I added, Esteban unfroze and looked at the stairs I'd just climbed apprehensively.

"Yeah, I'm going... Max." He stumbled over the words and pointed to the stairs, I nodded before he scurried to them.

"You can't avoid your problems forever." I said as he ran up the stairs, once he'd disappeared from my sight I sighed and opened my bedroom door, entering the purple and gold room. I'd added a few personal touches since I'd lived in it, the whiteboard on the wall now had battle plans, and formations in markers, small **S.P.Q.R's** found themselves on the walls, stenciled on by Max. I walked to the wardrobe and hung up the bag, I paused when I saw the few t-shirts I hadn't needed to buy, I touched the purple fabric, twisting it so I could see the insignia. "Believe me, I've tried." I whispered, although there was no one to hear it. I closed the closet and crossed the room to close my door behind me, hearing a few words of Hylla's conversation.

"One day, I'm going to have to give you a tour of Amazon HQ." I crossed the room and sat in the corner, there was a portion of unused whiteboard here, and in the space I wrote all the names of people I trusted with my life, at the very top were my dad, Hylla, Annabeth and Jason.

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**Well... I like this chapter, and I don't hate myself because I wrote it, so that's pretty awesome, come back next week when the last of the really sad and depressing stuff ends and the fun begins... After that. Also, if you think there's anything I could improve, or a headcanon you'd like to share, please feel free to let me know. Please and thank you.**

**Peace, Love, PIZZA!**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	9. Chapter 9

**Another week, another chapter, and I swear I'm beginning to hate myself less with each chapter, which is good news, because it means things are looking up, which they are. And chapter eleven is nearly finished, so I can start on chapter twelve soon, hopefully tomorrow at the latest, but we'll see. I kind of really do like this chapter, and I hope you guys do too. Anyway, I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations as it is the longest chapter I've written so far. YAY!**

**Word count: 3,843.**

**As always, I don't own the characters you recognise, I don't own the musicals mentioned and I never will. Adios.**

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_January 4th_

Hylla's Point of View:

"You know, we missed going to High School together, I know you never went but I think it would have been really fun." Antonia mused, I laughed, we'd made a lot of promises about High School together, promising to try out for every school musical, even deciding we'd drag Esteban into them.

"I owe you four years worth of school productions, get me a list and we'll perform as our favourite characters." I joked, Antonia laughed.

"_The Wizard of Oz_, _The Phantom of the Opera_, _Grease._" Antonia rattled off, counting to three on her fingers, I waited for the fourth one we could have starred in. "Those were the only ones I saw, Esteban was in each of them, so my dad and I would travel to see him perform. There was one moment during Grease that I really enjoyed." Antonia whispered, I grinned, eager to know.

"What?" I asked quietly, Antonia giggled a few times before she managed to say it.

"This girl in Esteban's year was playing Sandy, when she was singing _Hopelessly Devoted to You_ my dad leaned into my mom and said you would have performed it better." I pushed Antonia off my bed, blushing furiously. "A lot more emotion would have been given!" She cackled from the floor, I threw a pillow at her as hard as I could, but I still saw the funny side.

"What would give you that idea?" I asked Antonia, she sat up, rubbing her head, but she was grinning, so I knew I was safe.

"Because could have pictured Esteban while you were singing, it wouldn't have even been hard. He played Danny." I threw another pillow at her.

"Shut up!" I shrieked, Antonia cackled again, laying down on the floor with a huge grin, she rested her head on the pillows I'd given her. It felt like before we'd had to grow up, when Toni would tease me about my infatuation, listing off songs we could pick for our wedding, or even pointing out great places to have a date. Most girls would have been weirded out by the thought of their best friend dating their brother, but I could guess her motives. "It's not even that funny." I muttered, a small giggle escaping me.

"What's not funny?" Reyna asked, I turned to see her standing in the doorway, holding a book to her chest as she looked between us warily. Then she noticed the movie playing, we'd been steadily ignoring it since it had started, having watched it enough times to be able to recite any line from memory. "What are you watching?" I patted the bed, inviting her to join us, she declined. "I'd rather not end up on the floor." I turned to my attention to Toni.

"What makes you think that I would even get the part of Sandy?" I challenged her, a wicked smirk crossed her face.

"You'd only have to audition for Sandy before they realised your talent." Toni complimented, I laughed and pushed my hair over my shoulder. The bed shifted as Reyna decided to join us, and Toni got up from the floor, rearranging the pillows back on the bed, we left the door open.

"What did I miss?" Reyna asked, Toni and I caught her up on the movie just as we reached our favourite scene, the slumber party.

"Hush, this is my favourite part." I hissed to my sister, pulling her into a hug as we watched.

"Yeah, because the second song is something she can sing to Esteban." Antonia teased, I whacked her with a pillow, to her amusement. "Note how she didn't deny it." I pulled the pillow to my face and released a scream into it.

"Can we just forget about my non-existent love life." I moaned into the soft obstruction, Reyna patted my back gently.

"I suspect that you'll be receiving a visit from Venus soon." She said it as if it was meant to console me, but it just made me scream again.

"Shush, this is my favourite part." Antonia said, she pulled the pillow from my face as the beginning bars of _Hopelessly Devoted to You_ played. "Hylla, come on, please sing." She pleaded, knowing it was my weakness, I rolled my eyes but grabbed my hairbrush for a mic, I decided to enjoy myself. I sung along with the actress, pouring my heart into the song, making up for the missed opportunity to sing it in the play. When it finished, I collapsed back on my bed, grinning from ear to ear.

"That was fun." I admitted, Reyna joined me without hesitation, staring at the ceiling.

"It was just as entertaining to watch." I bolted upright again, accidentally hitting Reyna as I stared at the audience we'd gathered. Dad stood in the hallway, leaning on his walking stick slightly, his free arm around Elisa, Shaun stood closer, just in the doorway, grinning at me, he shot me a casual thumbs up. Max and Esteban had joined us as well, forcing me to quell the blush that threatened my cheeks.

"Now I'm really regretting not meeting you sooner, seeing you and Esteban duet in the musical would have just been fantastic." Max complimented me, I looked at my hands.

"Alas, dear Max. Esteban would have never shown his true potential without a little emotion behind it." Antonia quipped, she shot a pointed look at her brother. I flopped back on my bed again.

"Daddy, can I talk to you?" I asked, making sure my voice carried, I glanced at Reyna, musing on the conversation she'd told me about, of her discussion with dad yesterday. I was tired of being afraid of what happened, the fear of telling anyone about it had added to my nightmares, morphing into terrors that everyone I loved would shun me if I dared breathe a word of it, the dreams plagued me night after night, until I woke in a cold sweat dreading the night ahead. I hoped that I could put my fears to rest by finally telling my dad, he'd never done anything to make me believe that he would shun me, and I hoped he wouldn't.

"Are you sure?" Dad asked, I nodded, I had never felt more ready to talk about this. I stood up and pulled Reyna with me, I straightened my clothes before I turned to Antonia, ignoring everyone else.

"I know I'm going to need my best friend later, and I'd rather you hear everything now." I told her, Antonia gave me an understanding smile and linked my arm with hers.

"Don't you dare think that I'm not going to be there to support you." Antonia teased, I grabbed Reyna's hand and squeezed it, there were going to be a lot of times when I was going to want to cry again, but I was determined to be strong for my sister. I nodded at dad, signalling that I was ready.

"Can we use the living room? I want to be as comfortable as possible when we tell you this." I explained, dad nodded, walking ahead, I squeezed Reyna's hand again as we followed him down, I kept my eyes ahead, not looking at anyone. Ice cold fear clung to my spine as I realised that what I was about to say had never gotten past my lips before.

* * *

Max's Point of View:

"Four hours is too long to be normal." Shaun declared as he set down the glass again, he sighed and leaned against the living room door in a slump.

"They're demigods, the word normal isn't in their vocabulary." I taunted quietly, privately I agreed with him, even telling Luca all of the things I'd seen as a demigod hadn't taken more than two hours, although it helped that he was a Latin teacher and knew about monsters and their descriptions and powers.

"They've also been crying." Esteban pitched in, hearing his voice again made me jump. He had been the most silent, unlike Shaun and I, we'd pitched ideas and theories back and forth since they'd gone inside the living room.

"But four hours for a story, mom wouldn't even let me stay up that long to listen to a story." I sighed, once again privately agreeing with him. Shaun was too smart to be fooled, he knew that something serious had to have happened for them to still be talking after this long. It also had to be emotionally draining, because Luca had collected a bag of jellybeans, four mugs of hot chocolate, and several sandwiches. We'd all heard the crying as he exited and entered the living room.

"Maybe they're just discussing what to do now." I suggested, I glanced at Esteban to see him turn a shade of green. "Hylla's old enough to do what she wants, but Reyna is still technically a minor." Shaun shrugged, holding the glass to the wood again, trying to listen to what was being said, it was in vain, but it felt like we weren't just sitting and waiting for something to happen.

"Boys, it's still an invasion of privacy, even if you can't hear what's going on." Mom chided, I spun and faced her with my hands behind my back, I had nothing to hide, but it was always how I greeted her when she used that tone.

"We're just waiting for them, mom. It's been four hours, and it's getting to Shaun's bedtime." I reasoned, Mom glanced at the clock, noting it was getting dangerously close to nine, which marked my brother's bedtime. Shaun glared at me, the green irises flashed with irritation.

"You're right, Shaun start getting ready for bed." Mom ordered, Shaun set down the glass on the Chesterfield cabinet, sulking as he stalked past me to climb the stairs, mom smiled at him as she leaned against the wall of the atrium, her matching eyes showed the wariness of her pregnancy and worry for the two girls, she brushed her blonde hair from her face. "You boys need to get out, you've been sitting here for the past four hours. You haven't eaten, or done anything but watch that door. Get a change of scenery and I'll call you when they're done." Mom instructed firmly, I nodded, walking to the front door, I threw it open, walked outside and did a one-eighty before the door had even closed.

"Change of scenery, it's dark, there's a road, a few skyscrapers and two cars. Done." I said, mom rolled her eyes at my attitude.

"Brighten up, sunbeam." She said, I shut the front door again and sat on the floor. "You too, Esteban, if there is anything I've learned about those girls is that they are resilient, and resourceful. Don't dwell on their pasts and be grateful that they are here now. I'm going to tend to Shaun, when I get back you had better not be in the same positions." Mom warned, I nodded dutifully, Esteban followed a second later. We waited until she had brushed her hand through my hair and patted Esteban's shoulder, before I scooted an inch to my left and Esteban moved to a lower step.

"I'm sorry to have dragged you back into this mess." I apologised to Esteban, he gave a gracious nod, lost in thoughts, I recalled how I met my friend.

_Flashback:_

_"Ah, you must be our new student. Max." The teacher, Mrs Owen greeted me as I stepped into the classroom nervously, twenty other kids stared back at me, abandoning their schoolwork in favour of making me feel uncomfortable. I tore my eyes away and nodded to the teacher. "Would you like to tell us something about yourself, Max?" I shrugged, knowing that I might as well while I was up here, it might help me make friends faster. I didn't dare say anything about my father, or my powers._

_"Um, my name is Max Shelling, my mom is a nurse, I have a little brother who is only three months old, I'm sixteen and I like superheroes." I admitted, I felt a bit like an alien with all the teenagers still watching me as if I was something they'd never seen before. I blushed._

_"Is there anyone willing to sit next to Max, and show him around?" The teacher sounded like she should teach five-year olds, not high school students, she had a sickly sweet voice. I hoped that someone would raise their hand, I didn't want to be forced on someone who would ditch me at the first possible opportunity and I also didn't want to feel alone. Finally a guy in the back of the room raised his hand, rolling his eyes at either his classmates or me. "Excellent, Max, you can sit with Esteban." Mrs Owen informed me, I nodded dutifully and trudged to the back of the room, Esteban sat alone, but moved his bag to make room for me. I wondered if it was by choice that he sat alone._

_"Welcome to Puerto Rico." He greeted me dully, I noticed his sullen attitude and offered a smile._

_"Thanks for saving my hide back there. You're the second person to make me feel welcome." I said, Esteban nodded absently. "So, what do you do for fun?" I whispered as the lesson continued, Esteban helped by explaining what we were doing and caught me up._

_"Usually I mope around, play a few games. Sometimes I cook for my mom, to save her doing it when she gets home and sometimes I'll call my sister to have an intelligent conversation." Esteban recited, he made it sound like fun, but the haunted look in his eyes told a different story._

_"You have an older sister, that's cool. Does she live nearby?" I asked, Esteban let out a short bark of sarcastic laughter._

_"Antonia is younger than me, by a year. She lives with our dad in Costa Rica, my parents divorced when I was eleven." He said, I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Who's the person that beat me out in being the first to welcome you, was it Annette at the office?" He asked, this time he was teasing._

_"No, my mom's... Well, patient, he hired her to help take care of him, because he can't walk. She also helps around his house because he can't cook." I explained, Esteban nodded._

_"So, where does this guy live, I might have to have a talk with him." Esteban joked, I let out a nervous laugh, mentally apologising to Luca. I recited the address, as soon as I finished Esteban paled, nearly losing all colour in his face as he stared at me. "What?" I asked quietly, Esteban seemed to regain composure. "I'm not sleeping in a dead person's room, am I?" The joke didn't placate my new friend._

_"Listen, if you want to make friends around here, never tell anyone where you live." Esteban's face was deadly serious, his dark brown eyes locked on mine, I nodded obediently. I didn't fully understand it, but I guessed he knew something about the two bedrooms that were off-limits to me, they were situated on the second floor, and even mom didn't want to put Shaun in there when I suggested it, I guessed there was something they just didn't want to tell me._

_"Nobody died in that house, did they?" I asked, Esteban shrugged honestly._

_"It's been in the family for generations, probably at least a few people have died in that house, but no one recently." I kept a wary eye on him._

_"So, why shouldn't I mention the address?" I asked, Esteban glanced around to check everyone was absorbed in conversations before he turned back to me. "You act like it's cursed." I pointed out._

_"That's because Luca's daughters lived there. His oldest daughter would be in the school right now, just like my sister, except she ran away two years ago, taking her sister with her. Nobody really talks about it, it's considered taboo, especially among the freshmen, because she was in their class." I nodded, suddenly fearful of this subject, it was clear that it affected Esteban._

_"Were you... Were you close to her?" I asked quietly, Esteban snorted._

_"No, but Antonia was her best friend. That's why she lives with our dad, because they had made all these plans." The bell rang, cutting off our conversation but he continued once it finished and we packed up. "The auditions for the school musical start at three, would you like to stay and watch me make a fool of myself doing something I don't really care about?" He offered, I laughed._

_"If you don't like it, why are you doing it?" I asked, Esteban gave me a look and I understood._

_End flashback._

"You didn't really make a fool of yourself." I reminded him, Esteban was quite musically talented, he had a good singing voice and an ear for music, if I hadn't met his father, I'd swear that he was one of my half brothers.

"Neither did you." He quipped, I sighed, he'd never let me forget that I'd joined him in the first school musical, spending the next two laughing in the audience with Antonia as we exchanged wits.

"Have you boys even moved?" Mom sighed as she joined us down the stairs again, she sat next to Esteban on the stairs and looked between us.

"With all due respect, Ms Shelling, we did move. I was sitting on that step, and now I'm sitting on this step, and Max shuffled to the right." Esteban explained patiently, mom rolled her eyes at the both of us, stopping when the living room doors opened. Reyna was clinging to Hylla, her eyes were red and it was clear that she'd been crying, she kept rubbing at her eyes. Antonia had gone extremely pale, I worried for her health, Hylla hadn't been crying, but she was certainly in no better mood than either of the other girls.

"Is everything alright?" Elisa asked Luca, he'd followed them out, holding the tray. He beckoned her to the kitchen and they left to discuss it, leaving us alone with three extremely emotional women.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm exhausted." Reyna muttered quietly, she gave Hylla a lingering hug before sharing a short embrace with Antonia, I watched her trudge up the stairs and only after I heard her door close I let out the sigh I was holding for her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked Hylla, she looked ready to sway herself into a faint at any second. "You should get some rest." She reacted to that, pulling out a set of keys from her jeans.

"I'll rest when I get back, I'm going for a drive." I sighed at her stubbornness, standing up, her voice was hoarse, as if she'd been talking for a very long time, she probably had.

"Not on your own, you're liable to drive yourself into the sea." I pointed out, Hylla gave a weary sigh but decided the battle was already lost. She threw the keys to me and leaned on Antonia, who wrapped an arm around her, they went outside to wait for me. I turned to Esteban, who suddenly resembled the teen I'd met years ago. "I'm going to need some help, I've never really had to comfort crying women before." I mumbled, I blushed, feeling embarrassed, Esteban gave a sarcastic bark of laughter.

"You're not missing much. Trust me." He said before he clapped me on the back. Twenty minutes later I parked by a beach, Hylla didn't even wait for the engine to turn off before opening her door and getting out, she walked five feet onto the sand before her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.

"Go make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." I requested to my friend, Esteban cast a wary look at Antonia, she was curled up in the backseat, her eyes stared ahead at nothing, only her flinching assured us that she was still alive. "I'll take care of Toni, but Hylla would probably trust you more than she would trust me." I pointed out, Esteban gave a reluctant nod before he got out and chased after Hylla. I turned on the headlights so that I could keep an eye on them, sitting in silence as I waited for Antonia to talk to me.

"Max, have you ever seen Elysium?" Antonia asked quietly, I flinched at the question, but shook my head.

"Very few living people who go into the Underworld come out alive." I admitted, Antonia gave a reluctant nod, as if she'd expected that to be my answer. "The few who do, are never seeking Elysium, instead seeking their loved ones, but I've heard the stories." When she inclined her head for me to continue, I did. "It's perfect, of course, you could always be reborn to try for the Isles of the Blest, but most choose to stay in Elysium, rather than risk it. You have to do tremendous good to earn a place in Elysium, or you'd end up in the fields of asphodel, or if you're really awful, the fields of Punishment. Asphodal isn't that bad when you compare it to the tortures of the fields of Punishment, but they are a punishment in themselves, not that you'd realise it." I murmured, Antonia flinched again.

"What is the punishment?" She asked quietly.

"Imagine you were stood in a field of wheat, only, forever." I answered, another flinch.

"That's made up my mind, Hylla deserves to reach Elysium." Antonia said, a spark of determination filtered into her voice, and I admired her willingness to stand by her friend, no matter what.

"I sincerely hope the judges agree with you." I turned off the headlights, allowing Esteban and Hylla some cover as she cried, silence reigned in the car for several minutes before Antonia hiccupped, making us both laugh a little, with that the tension left us. "I hope you reach Elysium as well, Antonia, I think Hylla would be awfully bored without you to gossip with." I said, Antonia smiled, wiping her cheeks to get rid of all traces of any tears. All was well again.

* * *

**I really liked writing Esteban and Max meeting, I have some other ideas, but they won't come until later, but that's kind of the point. Lately I've felt more inspired for this story, although I'm completely neglecting my other stories, but because this story has been in my mind for ONE WHOLE YEAR! Which I'm really pleased about, not to say that my other stories haven't been given second thoughts, because they all have, but this story has been continiously thought about since the moment I envisioned it, and now a year later, we're nearly ten chapters in, and just in time for Christmas.**

**Peace, Love, Adios.**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	10. Chapter 10

******Gah, I spent nearly the whole day forgetting to update this! I remembered this morning, but then I found other things to do and so now I remembered to update and I am doing so! Of course, I nearly just put up chapter 11, but thank Zeus I recognised it from staring at it trying to finish it for nine weeks. It's finished now and chapter 12 is elluding me, but it's easily remedied. Here I am introducing a couple of new characters that I totally intend to bring back, but I have a lot of plans as well. No wait, idea! Okay, lets keep this brief.**

******Word count: 2,461**

******I don't own Percy Jackson, it's characters, don't want to, and I don't own the song Soft Kitty, which is what I based the lyrics on at the bottom.**

* * *

_January 5th_

Reyna's Point of View:

"Will you wait here for me?" Hylla requested, I paused, looking at the terraced house with trepidation, Hylla looked uncomfortable as she looked at it as well, but had obviously steeled herself for it, I shrugged at her. "I won't be a few minutes." She assured me, I stuffed my hands in my pockets, but nodded. Hylla eased her way into the empty front garden and walked up the flagstones, she gave a sharp rap on the blue front door, and I watched as Antonia opened the door to greet her brightly.

"Hey Toni." I called to her, the older girl gave me a smile and a short wave, but she didn't beckon me forward, and I knew why, they'd adopted our old dog when I was barely a year old. Hylla had to give up Soda because of my allergies, and had given him to her best friend, so she could still see him.

"He won't be a minute, would you like to get Soda ready?" I heard Toni ask, I curled my hand in my pocket and worried if I could cope with being around the dog, I knew Hylla would have full control over Soda, but I was terrified of the dog getting hyper and trying to climb me, even at his old age. Hylla held up her left hand, indicating five minutes and disappeared into the house, leaving the door ajar for me to get her if I needed to, I looked around the suburban area. A few kids were racing on their bikes, chasing after each other on the road, some girls were skipping with a colourful rope, two kids even sat in the shade of a fence and shared a book.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" I spun around, cursing myself for letting someone sneak up on me, I was out of practise for multiple targets, I needed to get in some active practise before I returned to Camp Jupiter. The girl who spoke couldn't have been older than I was, a lithe sprite with chocolate coloured hair and doe brown eyes, she was already taller than I was, but I'd always been a little small. "Are you lost?" She persisted, I bit my lip.

"No, I'm waiting for my sister." I jabbed my thumb towards Antonia's house, momentarily forgetting my manners, I instantly corrected myself. "Her best friend lives there, and we're going for a jog." I supplied, the girl gave me a once-over, stopping when she met my eyes.

"I feel like I've met you before, are you from here?" She asked, I looked at her outfit, a loose yellow thing, with three-quarter sleeves and a white tank top underneath, she wore a dark blue skirt, despite the time of year, gold gladiator sandles were wrapped around her feet. She stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"From here, yes. I moved away when I was really young, my sister practically raised me and I'm in town for a few short weeks." I explained, I shook her hand. "My name's Reyna Ramirez-Arellano." I added, at once, the smile on her painted lips fell, her face lost all colour as she stared at me, but her grip never wavered.

"Reyna?" She asked, I searched her face, I'd easily allowed myself to forget most of my classmates, children could be cruel when they wanted to, and while I usually allowed myself to forgive and forget such petty things, they had still been the first members of society that I'd interacted with, and they had shunned me.

"I'm sorry, I normally have an excellent memory, could you refresh it?" I requested, I glanced at the blue door, half-hoping that Hylla would rescue me from this madness.

"Amelia." The girl supplied, I nodded. "Amelia Owen." I remembered her now, her mother was a teacher at the high school, dad had praised her teaching methods, but always said she would have been better at teaching my age.

"Hello Amelia, how are you?" I asked politely, Amelia shifted on her feet uneasily. "What are you up to?" I asked, Amelia smiled nervously.

"I'm well, I suppose. I'm waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up for our date, but as usual, he's late, I don't know why I still stand for it. What about you, what are you up to these days?" I shrugged, a small smile flickering across my face.

"Not much really, I'm visiting my dad with Hylla, staying for the wedding and then I'll probably travel back to California." I shrugged again, Amelia nodded, accepting my vague answer.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" She asked, my mind flashed to all the boys in Camp Jupiter, and the ones I'd seen in Camp Half-Blood, one that continuously flashed forward was Jason. I smiled cryptically.

"No, but if I do, you'll be the first to know." I teased, Amelia giggled, and I wondered why I'd never made an effort to get on with her, she seemed really nice. A tense silence settled, broken by Amelia.

"You know, none of us every really meant those harsh words, we were just kids, and I'm sorry that you ever felt that running away with your sister was better than seeing us everyday." Amelia apologised, I shrugged again. "We hold a wake, every year." She added, I tilted my head thoughtfully. "It's never on the day you left, but it's a sort of memorial where we light candles and release balloons in your memory. We all thought you'd died from your injuries." I shook my head softly.

"No, I'm made of tougher stuff than that." I joked, Amelia laughed, before a black-haired boy ran into the cul-de-sack, he wore jeans, and a leather jacket, his hair was partially dyed blue. "Is that your boyfriend?" I asked, pointing him out to Amelia.

"Amy!" He panted, Amelia squealed and raced over to him, kissing him soundly as a greeting.

"I was certain that you'd stood me up this time." She scolded him, I chuckled, watching as she dragged him over to meet me. "Tobias, this is Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Reyna, my boyfriend Tobias. We're going to have our date now, but if you want to look into the memorial, if you can be in town around the time, my house is over there." She pointed out the house where the two children were reading against the fence, I nodded.

"It was nice to see you again, I hope we can properly catch up at some point." I spoke, I shook the hand of Tobias briefly.

"I've heard about you, you seem awfully real for a dead person." He joked, I chuckled and turned to Amelia.

"Hold on to him, he's got a sense of humour." I said, she laughed and with that, they left for their date. I turned back to Antonia's house to see Hylla leaving with a Chocolate Lab on a black leash, Esteban followed her out with a Cocker Spaniel being held on a red leash that matched it's collar. "I thought we were going for a run?" I inquired, Hylla raised an eyebrow at me as Esteban closed the door.

"We are, I just brought along motivation, they require exercise, and we're going exercising. Two birds with one stone." Hylla answered, I waited for them to exit the garden before looking at the dogs warily. "Soda, Cookie, meet Reyna. She's allergic to you, so you won't be getting off the leash this time, I'm afraid." Hylla said with a strict, no-nonsense tone, I raised my eyebrows at her.

"They're intelligent." Esteban said, as way of greeting, and explanation.

"_Soda_." I repeated with disbelief. "_Cookie_." The two of them looked at me blankly before Esteban leaned into Hylla. "They don't even look like their namesakes." I was peculiar about the subject, if there was an opportunity, I would prefer it to be taken.

"I think she fell of the rocker, maybe it was a bad idea for you to bring her." He stage-whispered, I paid no attention to his words for now, vowing to get payback at some point later, but what truly stopped me was the way he talked to her, before now he'd kept some distance, I'd noticed his hesitation around her, and the way he'd shy away from her, I'd linked his behaviour towards a guilty conscience. Now he was acting like an old friend, and possibly a future lover.

"Get marching, lover boy. We're burning daylight." I drawled, Esteban saluted me mockingly before taking off in a sprint, Cookie racing with him. Soda itched to follow them, but Hylla kept him in a solid grip as she walked alongside me, I sneezed three times before I managed to get a proper word in.

"When did this new friendship occur?" I asked, I knew the answer, I'd seen the two only yesterday, Hylla had spent the entire day with either me or Antonia, it was only after I retreated to my room to continue crying that I'd heard someone leave the house.

"It's not really a friendship, we're just two people walking our dogs." Hylla answered, she clucked her tongue as Soda stopped to sniff the lamppost, walking away instantly.

"Sure, you are. I would hate to intrude on your date." I muttered, Hylla swatted my arm and scowled at me.

"It's not a date, you're here." She retorted, I rolled my eyes. "Antonia would come as well, but she already had plans. " I nodded, crossing my arms and stepping away from the dog when it tried to come near me, I still sneezed.

"Tell me more about this development." I requested, sniffling, I wiped my eyes and fervently hoped I didn't sneeze myself into a faint, it had only happened once so far. "I would never have this problem with Argentum and Aurum." I muttered, Hylla let out a short laugh.

"They are metal, of course you would have no problem with them. You're only allergic to pet hair." Hylla said, a smile gracing her face, I grinned despite myself. "Nothing happened, Max and Antonia took me to the beach so that I could be alone when I cried, and Esteban comforted me when I did, it was probably Max's intuition telling him that I'd trust someone I'd known longer, and he comforted Toni. To cheer me up he invited me along to walk Soda and Cookie." I stared at the Chocolate Lab now sniffing a mailbox, I looked away as he lifted his leg and started his business.

"You used to do this with Antonia." I murmured, Soda finally got impatient and began to pull Hylla forward, I snickered to myself, walking faster to keep up. "But Soda seems to think that Esteban is a good match for you." I taunted, Cookie had decided to wait for us as well, Esteban patiently waiting beside the Cocker Spaniel.

"Do you know, Amy?" Esteban asked as we caught up with him, I looked back at the spot I'd stayed in when I was talking to Amelia, before giving another wary look at the dogs, we'd reached the end of the cul-de-sac and I was itching to run, as were they.

"Yeah, we went to school together and she started a conversation while I waited for you two. She's nice." I shrugged, I curled my hands into fists in my pocket and frowned, the idea of the wake bothered me.

"Did she know who you were?" Hylla asked, I rolled my eyes at her.

"Only after I introduced myself, she's not as bad as I thought." I turned to my sister and sneezed again. "I really hate allergies." I muttered, sniffling once more, Hylla winced, sympathetically.

"Run ahead, and we'll keep them away from you." She assured me, with a quick tap to her shoulder I shot off like a bullet from a gun, racing ahead of the two dogs. "Don't get too far." Hylla called after me, I stopped a few feet after I started and started jogging backwards, allowing myself to watch the older two as they talked. Their movements were completely innocent, alternating between keeping an eye on the dogs, and chatting casually, he put his hand over hers to reign in Soda, but removed it immediately after. I waited for a lull in their conversation, trying to find something I could talk about that wouldn't force Hylla to close up, but wouldn't draw any attention to our experiences. Small talk was never my forte.

"So, what do you like, Esteban?" I asked, Hylla gave me a warning look, which I ignored in favour of learning more about Antonia's brother. "Hobbies, interests. We've never really talked much." I mused, Esteban chuckled, placing a light hand over Hylla's as Soda attempted to speed up again.

"There's really not much to say." He shrugged, I gave him my version of Hylla's patented '_Don't tell me lies_' look. "I work part-time as a mechanic in a garage, I enjoy cooking for family and friends, but I wouldn't dream of cooking a banquet. I love dogs, but I think cats are also kind of cute." I nodded, jogging backwards a bit faster to avoid getting close to the dogs. "There's really not much I can say about myself." Esteban insisted, I nodded, I sneezed again, shooting Cookie a look as the dog got too close.

"I would never have this problem with Argentum and Aurum." I muttered, pacing myself further away from the hair-infested animals. At Esteban's questioning look, Hylla supplied a quick explanation of my loyal companions. "I think I'm going to return home to sleep off this allergic reaction." I decided, Hylla gave a short nod, her eyes pleading with me to stay. "Enjoy your run." I bade them goodbye and began the jog back to our house. I glanced back before they left my sight to see Esteban put his arm around Hylla, and held my breath as I waited for her to react, when I heard her reprimand him but didn't remove it, I smirked. "_Soft sister_, _warm sister_, _little loved up doll._" I sung under my breath, chuckling as I picked up speed and raced back.

* * *

**So, Amelia and Tobias. What do you think of them? There will be more from them, mostly Amelia, but I really wanted to give Reyna someone her own age to hang out with during her short spell in Puerto Rico. I also gave her an allergy. Allergic to pet hair. Well, that's it from me this week, sorry I didn't upload something for the holidays, but I'm not really in the holiday spirit, oh well.**

**Peace, Love, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF 2013!**

**Love Always, Jeyna. X**


	11. Chapter 11

Hello, hello, my lovely readers, here I sit with the chapter that took me _nine weeks_ to finish, I'm sorry to stay, with left me with a serious dent in the time I have to write chapter 12, and the chapters after that, but it could be a lot worse, I've managed to finish this at least, and I even got **1oooW0rds** to look this over, she has been a big help plot-wise and with this chapter, because she keeps me grounded and doesn't let me run off with my ideas, so a big hand to her. She did some awesome editing for this chapter, helping it seem a bit plausible, and not as dark as I originally wrote it, so kudos to her, she also gave me tips on how to lengthen chapters. I don't know what I'd do without her. Probably drown in stories.

Oh, one more thing, Octavian's description is from The Son of Nuptune, when Percy is describing him. (Except I added in the bit about the pole.)

Word count: **3,030.**

I do not own Percy Jackson, I do not own anything you recognise except for the characters I created, you should know them by now.

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January 6th

Jason's Point of View:

"Thank you, Octavian." I dismissed the Augur, somewhat frustrated. He'd proclaimed a dark omen was on the horizon, a shadowy monster would launch an attack, and we'd be devastated by the loss. Nobody really believed him; we were too well protected to be impaired by an attack. A direct attack by a Giant and his army hadn't even done anything permanent. "Is that all of our business?" I asked, there was a general murmur of agreement. "Very well, Senate adjourned." The Lares disappeared first before anyone else moved and then people began to trickle out. I sighed and waited until only Octavian and I remained.

"You don't believe me." He accused, I clasped my hands together behind my back and fixed him with a stare. He didn't intimidate me, although slightly taller, he was as flimsy as a scarecrow, and looked a bit like one too, with his oversized jeans, baggy t-shirt, drooping toga and straw coloured hair. Stick him on a pole and he could act as a guard for Camp Half-Blood's strawberry fields.

"Octavian, I do not see the need for haste. This warning is hardly worth a mention. One meager vision is not sufficient enough to provide a story for your words. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and I will consider your warnings for now. Should you have any more of these visions, please report them to me, then we'll address them. No sooner." The Augur nodded, placated for now.

"As you wish, praetor." Octavian turned on his heel and slipped from the building, I sighed again and looked at the entrails of the massacred stuffed toys. I left them for the wind spirits to pick up and left as well. Gwen was waiting outside for me, a bright smile and the promise of a free lunch on her lips.

"Reyna will be back soon, won't she?" Gwen asked as we walked down the street, she lead me towards her favourite lunch spot.

"Ten days." I supplied. "Only ten more days until she returns." Gwen smiled warmly, patting my arm fondly.

"She'll be able to tell us all about her trip then, I'll have to take you both to lunch that day." Gwen chirped, she linked her arm with mine and dragged me inside the warm café. We found a seat in the corner and I picked up a menu. I didn't come here very often and I was open to anything they served. "You must miss her."Gwen mused, absently. I sighed, knowing she was right. I did miss Reyna more than before. When I was at Camp Half-Blood, at least then I believed she was safe and sound at Camp Jupiter. I knew Reyna is more than capable of taking care of herself and with Hylla by her side, the two should be fine. But that doesn't stop the feeling in my stomach. Maybe I'm just a worrywart. I just hate this feeling of not seeing Reyna, not knowing where she is and not being able to contact her.

"I really can't wait for the next ten days to be over with." I answered honestly. Gwen smiled, patted my arm again and got up to order. As she did this, I realized, I couldn't contact her but others could. "Can we take a rain check, Gwen?" I asked as I stood up, a plan slowly forming in my head. The blonde student raised an eyebrow at me, a habit she picked up from Reyna. "I need to see a kelp head about a battle star." Gwen smiled sweetly as I left. I think it's time to place a reverse charges call to Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

Reyna's Point of View:

"Will it feel weird to you?" I spoke up, watching Hylla brush her hair away from her face. The long tresses flowed down her back, stopping midway and curling at the ends. My sister always looked like a dark angel, but in a good way. "Going home to Seattle?" I added, remembering she couldn't read my mind.

"I won't be going home. Not really." Hylla replied evenly.

"You just quoted the first Harry Potter movie."

"I'm well aware." I rolled my eyes, lying back on her bed and spreading out. "Not to say that Seattle doesn't feel like home to me, but home is where the heart is. I have a lot of homes." Hylla explained. I cocked an eyebrow at her, hoisting myself up on my elbows to view her better. She met my eyes in the mirror. "One home is in Camp Jupiter, when you are there. Another is the Dominican Republic, where Aunt Maria and her family live. The fourth home is in Buenos Aires, with auntie Linda and her children and husband. My fifth home is in Salinas, with nana, but most importantly, my home is here, in San Juan. When all my family is together under one roof." Hylla said patiently, I lowered my eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling.

"I never thought of it like that." I admitted. The bed dipped as Hylla joined me, stretching out. "But then again, I always knew at least part of me belonged here." I turned until I was face-to-face with my older sister. She was smiling, which made her look younger by years. All the stress seemed to fade away from her pretty face. "You know, I want to do something but I really don't want to have to get up." Hylla smiled at my lazy tone as I yawned. "Your bed is too comfortable, how do you get up in the mornings?" Hylla laid down, looking up at the ceilings. There were little glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling.

"With much difficulty." Hylla finally replied, I let out a snort.

"No kidding." I retorted, resting my head on my arms. I felt like I could fall asleep right now and not wake up until morning. I saw Hylla's eyes closed and another yawn escaped my mouth. My eyes were slowly growing heavier as I listened to Hylla's soft rhythmic breathing before falling asleep myself.

_"Circe was right." I muttered to Hylla from our spot huddled in the corner. Everything was quiet beside the occasional creak of wood and distant muffled shouts from above. It was impossible to tell how long we've been on Blackbeard's ship. Pirates would come once-in-a-while, throwing stale bread and, if we're lucky, bones. They took Cindy, a petite slender pretty girl a short while ago. She screamed, cried and clawed the ground as they dragged her out. I could see hear her sobs and begs until they took her into a different section of the ship. Hylla held me tight then, trying to cover my ears but I could still hear the yells and shouts before a high-pitch scream. Then silence a bone-chilling silence before they brought her back and shoved her into the cell again. Cindy sat with a hollow expression in her eyes, not responding to any of Hylla's soothing words._

_"What was she right about?" Hylla asked, brushing a strand of Cindy's hair out of her face. Cindy was one of Circe's favorite. She was bright and cheery but now a shell of her former self. Hylla dabbed her face with a wetted cloth of her dress. The girl just blinked blankly as she sat there. She was nothing like the girl who used to watch me on Circe's island._

_"Men are pigs." I declared. Hylla frowned at me and I shrugged in reply, slouching further in the corner._

_"Not all men are pigs." Hylla said quietly, repeating the same thing she told me for as long as I remembered. It was the exact opposite of what Circe taught us._

_"You keep saying that but I haven't seen anything different, Hylla." I whispered scathingly. My blood had been boiling for days and Hylla was the only target I could release my anger at. "You've always told me that men aren't pigs but where's the proof? So far, Blackbeard's only taught me that Circe's right." I stood up and paced the floor, agitated. My hands were shaking, full of pent-up frustration, and I wanted to hit something. "Circe said that the pirates would hurt us and look at what happened. We're on a ship, sailing gods know where. They… they…" I looked at Cindy, unable to put it into words. Hylla was silent as she allowed me to rant. I tried to keep the tears in. I will not cry. "Tell me how Circe was wrong." I challenged, trying to keep a hold on the anger. Hylla gently wiped the silent tears falling from Cindy's cascade blue eyes._

_"Dad was a good man." Hylla whispered, gently combing Cindy's golden locks back. There were heavy bruises on the girl's arms and legs. Her dress was ripped and torn in places. I blinked, hugging myself. Hylla spoke quietly but in the tiny room I could hear her all the same. "Dad saved your life when you were attacked." I straightened up, staring at Hylla. She never spoke about her parents despite my constant questioning. All she told me was that men weren't as awful as Circe said._

_"When was this?" I asked. Hylla drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them._

_"Before Circe's Island. The reason I took you to Circe's Island was to protect him." Hylla explained, we were startled by the door being thrown open. A pirate with an eye-patch over his left eye and a peg leg ventured in._

_"Back to the wall." He ordered, Hylla scrambled up, grabbing Cindy and dragging the quiet girl to the wall. I glared at him for a fraction of a second before Blackbeard entered. Hylla's hand on my elbow dragged me back. Blackbeard seemed to be looking past Cindy, staring firmly at Hylla and me._

_"Well little ladies." The captain greeted us maliciously. I felt a shiver run through Hylla as she tried to avoid his gaze. "How's your memory, girl?" He addressed my older sister. Hylla pursed her lips, weighing her words._

_"I told you already. We have nobody." She answered evenly. Blackbeard nodded as if he expected that answer. Suddenly, the pirate lunged, grabbing my wrist and pinning me against the wall. I struggled, kicking and clawing, anything to get away from the horrible filthy man._

"Ow – hey, hey, REYNA!" I gasped, opening my eyes to see Esteban holding me down. "You ok?" I nodded my head and the handsome twenty-five year old slowly released me. "God, you sure know how to kick." He rubbed his jaw, sitting on the bed beside him. I took me a second to realize that I'd lashed out, thinking I was going to hurt or kidnapped.

"Sorry." I whispered sincerely. Esteban moved his jaw, checking for any cracks. "I didn't break it. Trust me. If I wanted to break it, it would be broken now." He laughed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Bad dream?" Esteban asked after I've calmed down. I sat up, cradling my head as I tried to sort out my thoughts. The room was darker than before even with the curtains open. A tiny lamp was glowing softly on the side table. I glanced at Hylla, who was lying in bed, still in deep sleep. "Come on, we can talk outside." He held his hand out. I hesitated for a second before placing my hand in his warm ones.

"Yeah," I've answered quietly after we settled into the empty kitchen. Esteban was working at the stove with a pot, making hot chocolate. His grey woolen jacket was draped over my shoulders as I gathered my thoughts. It was the first time I've dreamed about our time on Blackbeard's ship.

"I get them sometimes, too." He murmured absent-mindedly. "Not very often, but when I do, they're pretty jarring." He spoke in an even tone as he stirred the warm milk before pouring a generous amount of chocolate into the pan. "I'm left shaking, trying to get a grip on reality." I nodded my head, taking one of the jacket sleeves in my hands, twisting and turning the buttons.

"What are your nightmares about?" I whispered, half hoping he couldn't hear me. Esteban didn't meet my eyes, staring in the distance before pour the warm liquids into mugs. He sat in the other kitchen chair, sliding the drink towards me. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, remembering. They were dark brown like smauldering logs.

"May 27th." He answered in a soft whispered. I nodded, pretending I knew the day. In reality, I had no clue. It was just one of those days that separated Hylla's birthday from mine, exactly in between the two dates.

"Wait…" I murmured softly, thinking hard. 'A week later I said I was taking you to school, except neither of us arrived at our respective schools.' Hylla had told me that a week and a half ago, before we've flown to Puerto Rico. That day was like a blur. We were with a group of people whose boat we had stowed away on. Hylla decided to reveal ourselves when it was safe. I remember the jolt of the boat hitting the dock, landing on Circe's Island. There were soft hands, gently pushing my dirty hair away and warm water washing over my face. I could recall seeing Circe for the first time in her long dress before her pretty face twisted as she turned the two men into guinea pigs. Hylla had told me we were going to meet Antonia and Esteban but we didn't. "Oh…" I said, clenching the sleeve of his jacket.

"Yeah, oh is right." Esteban agreed. "I can't speak for demigods' dreams but nightmares suck just as bad."

"They're not exactly fun." I explained, sipping my hot chocolate. "They're never exactly just dreams. They tend to be more prophetic, sometimes the future, sometimes the past. They serve a purpose, to warn us about upcoming danger. They're useful but when you wake up, it's hard to figure out the difference between dream and reality." I bit my lip, thinking about my dream.

"Hey, don't dwell on it." Esteban told me, patting my knee. "Let's go wake up sleeping beauty." I chuckled and followed him back upstairs. Esteban entered it without thinking but I lingered at the door. I've known from experience not to wake her up unless necessary. She had even jumpier reflexes than me. I leaned against the door frame, holding my mug, getting ready for a show.

"Be careful." I told him as he walked to the side of Hylla's bed.

"What is she going to do to me?" He replied, gently reaching for Hylla's arm.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." I whispered into my mug, taking a sip. It took only a second. Esteban let out a yelp and a crash followed the sound. "Should have listened to me," I muttered looking up and smirked at the sight. Esteban was on the floor with Hylla straddling him. One hand was grasping his throat while the other was risen up in a fist. She looked slightly bewildered as she looked up at me.

"What is he doing here?" She demanded. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Enjoying the view?" I replied, noticing Esteban's eyes lingering over Hylla's body. Hylla glared at me with her cheeks flushed red.

"As nice as this position is…" Esteban spoke up, startling Hylla just enough to get the upper hand. He flipped their position in seconds. "I prefer to be on top." Like any daughter of war, Hylla reacted quickly, kicking out Esteban's leg and flipping him over again. This time, she didn't straddle him and quickly stood up, smoothing her dark hair.

"Esteban, you're an idiot." I said, sipping my drink. The guy laughed, running his fingers through his hair as he sat up on the bed. He met my gaze with a familiar twinkle in them, sending me a lopsided smile. Any normal girl would swoon at his handsome grin but it just made me miss Jason more. Jason's smiles were warm and teasing. His blue eyes would light up brightly, drawing me in. His tiny scar would quirk up. "You came here for a reason?" I asked, shaking the memory of Jason out of my head.

"Just popped by to keep things entertaining." Sure, I thought as Esteban stood up, smoothing his shirt down. He smiled at Hylla before walking towards the door. "You be good now." He said, tapping my nose and walking down the stairs.

I stuck my tongue out at him before gasping and running to the stairs. "Your jacket!" Esteban stood at the bottom, looking up at me.

"Keep it. I'll see you on Friday and grab it then." He told me before giving a slight wave and left. I stood there for a long second, not sure what to think about Esteban. Hylla appeared beside me, also watching the young man leave.

"Please don't leave me alone with him. I don't know whether to kiss him or kill him." Hylla said quietly.

"Kissing is more fun." I whispered, heading down the stairs with a tiny smile on my lips. Hylla shoved me as I laughed. "It's true." I told her, grabbing Esteban's jacket off my shoulders and tossing it towards her. "It's Esteban's. You'll have a reason to see him again." Hylla groaned and threw the jacket back at me. "Denial is not just a river in Egypt!"

* * *

I love how she just manages to keep my characters the way I want them, Esteban is suave, confident, and I owe a big thanks to Words, because she is a big help. So, to send her a lot of love, please do me the biggest favour ever(If you're reading this) and check out her awesome Jeyna stories, and her other awesome stories, but I haven't read those. So send her some love in **what could have been**, **regrets**, or **Cafe Jupiter **because seriously, she is epic. And she keeps my head screwed on. That's an accomplishment. But that's it from me, do check her stories out if you haven't.

Peace, Love, WELCOME TO 2014!

Love Always, Jeyna. X


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